EXTERNAL RESEARCHER / MUN

Characterized by extreme deficits in memory and thinking, Alzheimer’s disease is a debilitating brain condition that currently has no cure. Mark Russell, a recent chemistry graduate from Memorial University of Newfoundland, completed his honours thesis on whether carotid arteries - the arteries that carry oxygen to the brain - change in structure and function when Alzheimer’s disease is beginning. Using a mouse model, he did ultrasounds to study differences in carotid arteries in diseased versus non-diseased mice. These differences may be useful in detecting Alzheimer’s disease sooner, and therefore in getting treatments started as soon as possible. Aspiring to study veterinary medicine, he shares how he enjoyed working with mice and the ultrasound machine, and recommends that all students try research.

Supervisor: Dr. Lindsay Cahill

EXTERNAL RESEARCHER / ACADIA

Emily Sabean is completing a Master’s in Chemistry at Acadia University. Her research is about creating a drug delivery vehicle (i.e. a way to package medications so they can be ingested) containing CBD and psilocybin for the treatment of mental health disorders, like depression and anxiety. She discusses how current antidepressants are not sufficient for helping everyone who is managing a mental health disorder, how no novel medications have entered the market in over twenty years, her research method for creating delivery vehicles for CBD and psilocybin, and the satisfaction she gets from a successful result.

Supervisor: Dr. Nicoletta Faraone

EXTERNAL RESEARCHER/ MUN

Nikita Harvey is a Master of Science student in Chemistry at Memorial University. She completed her honours thesis last year on how brain structure in mice is impacted by intrauterine exposure to “nanoplastics” - plastics that have been broken down in the environment into small particles. She shares how these findings are relevant to humans, how she delights in the experience of behavioural testing, and that her thesis was published last February in Environmental Science.

Supervisor: Dr. Lindsay Cahill

EXTERNAL RESEARCHER / ACADIA

Lincoln Inglis completed his Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in computer science from Acadia University. His thesis studied how to improve prosthetic users’ perceptions of grip strength. Specifically, he studied whether accompanying a prosthetic hand with visual stimuli that changes with grip strength can help prosthesis users perceive how strongly they are gripping objects. Involving app development and programming, Inglis shares that his computational neuroscience project allowed him to explore topics that traditionally lie outside psychology, and enjoyed the creative problem-solving that came with them.

Supervisor: Dr. Dan Blustein

EXTERNAL RESEARCHER / MUN

Aaron Murphy completed his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His honours thesis examined whether young adults recall their earliest memories differently when they are told leading information prior to recounting their memories. He explains the main results of the study, how fulfilling he finds qualitative research, and the forensic relevance of the study to understanding witness testimonies in historical child abuse cases.

Supervisor: Dr. Carole Peterson

EXTERNAL RESEARCHER / UPEI

Alexis Wood is a 4th year Biology and Psychology student at the University of Prince Edward Island studying the effects of pesticides in mammals. She explains the long history of insecticide use in our society, and how research into its effects on mammals is minimal. Her research methods span exposing in utero rats to thiamethoxam pesticide, assessing their behaviour with physical and cognitive tests, and quantifying protein synthesis in the cortex and hippocampus. She emphasizes the thrill of investigating this little-studied topic, and how her interest in pesticides is contextualized by her upbringing on a farm in rural PEI.

Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Tasker