SELF EXAM:

Occupation: Physician

Alternative career choice: Jazz Pianist

What do rock stars and scienctists have in common: Strong dedication to their work

Musical Instrument I Play: Jazz Piano

I tend to approach life: as a great adventure

Biggest misconceptions about me or my work: that scientists are nerds who have poor people skills and dont do exciting work.

Worst part-time job ever: cleaning toilets in a supermarket

Longest med school study session: 36 hours

Best moment in medicine/research: discovering the use of nuclear magnetic resonance to study living tissues in an intact rat.

ABOUT MY RESEARCH:

Disease Area: alzheimer's disease is a disorder where proteins called amyloid and tau are deposited in the brain resulting in memory problems progressing to dementia.

Research Area: I study alzheimer's disease with brain imaging. My goal is to find the best ways to detect alzheimer's disease at an early stage.

Science Impact/Accomplishments or Goal: we have identified various biomarkers that predict alzheimer's disease. Our goal is to help find treatments which slow the progression of alzheimer's.

Research Description: The overall goal of my research is to help find treatments which slow the progression of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), and ultimately to prevent this terrible disorder. My research uses brain imaging to detect changes associated with AD. These changes can be used to identify patterns of change in the brain of apparently normal healthy people who have early AD, but who have no symptoms. Thus these changes can be used to determine which individuals are more likely to develop AD symptoms in the future. These changes can also be used to monitor progression of AD, and thus can determine whether treatments are slowing progression. I'm particularly interested in developing and implementing new techniques which provide improved diagnosis, early detection, and monitor longitudinal changes in treatment trials.