Ting Qiu is a PhD IPN student in the Villeneuve lab at the Douglas Research Centre. Her project, titled The role of structural network efficiency in cognitive resilience to AD pathology in cognitively unimpaired older adults at risk of AD dementia, falls under Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives' Research Theme 2—Mechanistic Models of Neurodegenerative Disorders.
What inspired you to pursue your current degree?
I've been focusing on using neuroimaging techniques to investigate neurodegenerative diseases since my master’s studies. My ultimate career goal is to use my professional knowledge and skills to help people better understand the pathological mechanism of diseases and to provide directions to design treatments for these diseases. Further education can help me realize my career goal, so I chose to pursue a PhD in neuroscience at McGill.
What is your area of research and what are the future implications of your project?
My research aims to examine the association between white matter properties and cognitive resilience in the preclinical phase of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. This may provide direction for further research aimed at improving the prediction of cognitive decline in individuals at risk of AD and help design intervention strategies to improve individual cognitive resilience and delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia.
What are some challenges that you face as a trainee or in your research? How do you try to overcome them?
Being an international student, I find it challenging to study and live in a foreign country, with the associated culture shock, language barriers and project pressure. To overcome these challenges, I've been making plans and working hard to fulfill my goals step by step, such as improving my spoken English, moving forward with my research project, etc. I've also been active in asking questions and giving comments in weekly lab meetings and literature reviews, and have sought out opportunities to present my research results at local and international conferences.
What do you like best about (your) research?
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive disorder characterized by the accumulation of amyloid (Aβ) and tau in the grey matter of the brain, which starts years before the onset of clinical symptoms. Enhancing cognitive resilience to delay the onset of symptoms by one year could reduce the prevalence of AD dementia by at least 10%, so understanding the factors contributing to resilience in cognitive decline could reduce the impact of the ongoing AD epidemic. Investigating reliable biomarkers to understand the mechanisms of cognitive resilience in AD could help maintain cognitive performance in the face of AD pathology.
What non-science activity or hobby do you most enjoy?
I play badminton and enjoy spending time with dogs!
What accomplishment are you most proud of this year?
I'm more comfortable with programming and can learn new tools and techniques quickly. I've also found that I’ve become more interested in data analysis.
