Alzheimer’s research earns 2 students international award
Christine Lau (L) and Marie Ishida (R) at the 13th International Symposium on Selenium in Biology and Medicine.
For their research into therapeutic strategies aimed at combating Alzheimer’s disease, two University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa undergraduate students earned an award at an international biomedical meeting in October.
Christine Lau and Marie Ishida traveled to Daejeon, South Korea, to attend the 13th International Symposium on Selenium in Biology and Medicine. They delivered a poster presentation and an oral presentation describing their work. Lau and Ishida were recognized with an award for Top Poster Presentation from the publisher Springer–Nature.
Lau and Ishida conduct research under the mentorship of SOEST Researcher Daniel Torres at the Pacific Biosciences Research Center, where they study the ability of the micronutrient selenium to counteract the production of tau and beta–amyloid, two proteins involved in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Lau is double majoring in psychology and molecular and cell biology, and recently started her BAM (bachelor’s and master’s) combined degree program for educational psychology. She hopes to go to medical school and become a forensic psychiatrist.
Ishida is majoring in biology, and is working toward attending medical school and becoming a physician. She said, “the symposium was an unforgettable experience that allowed me to witness the various projects that researchers are conducting.”
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