FIU annually hosts its version of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, a gathering of graduate students who present their thesis/disseration projects to an audience and panel of judges. The event, for which entrants prepare for months, aims to improve the communication skills of young researchers by taking them through the process of "translating," or making relatable, the research they do so that anyone might understand its significance. Daniel Martinez Perez is a Ph.D. candidate in the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work whose presentation on his Alzheimer's investigation won him first place at the campus competition this year and advanced him to the national contest. He shares his experience as a researcher and competitor.
How did you get started studying Alzheimer's?
I started that my master's degree when I joined a group of neuroscientists in Antioquia, Colombia. The research group has been studying a Colombian family with a rare mutation for early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. The members of this family develop Alzheimer's in their 40s and die in their 50s.
I understood that one of the most important challenges with this disease is to obtain an early diagnosis before the onset of the illness. I decided to continue with this work by purusing a Ph.D. and now am working in Tomas R. Guilarte's lab at FIU where I have been studying the role of a protein called TSPO in the progression of Alzheimner's as a potential early biomarker and therapeutic target.
