Students Meera Menon (Left) and Devanshi Mohapatra (Right) meet with Dr. Holly Hunsberger (Center) to discuss the science behind Alzheimer's and the role of youth in community engagement.
As part of our mission to raise awareness and inspire youth involvement in Alzheimer’s education, we had the opportunity to speak with a leading researcher from Rosalind Franklin University whose work centers on understanding the biological and environmental factors influencing Alzheimer’s disease. Our conversation shed light on the gender disparities in Alzheimer's risk, particularly how women are disproportionately affected. “Women are more susceptible,” Dr. Hunsberger noted, explaining how anxiety, hormonal transitions during menopause, and affective disorders play key roles in accelerating disease progression. “Anxiety may predict Alzheimer’s,” she explained, adding that social isolation, benzodiazepine use, and withdrawal can compound risk in elderly populations.
She also emphasized a significant gap in research: “We’ve only focused on male mice, not female mice,” highlighting a critical lack of sex-based analysis. Hunsberger lab is actively working to address this limitation by investigating how experiences affect memory encoding differently across sexes. To do this, they employ cutting-edge techniques that allow them to capture a dynamic view of brain activity. These include turning on tagged cells during live experiences to observe memory formation, extracting brain tissue for antibody testing, and identifying early gene activations. “It gives us a snapshot of neurons in the moment,” she said, helping researchers pinpoint which experiences lead to long-term memory formation.
The lab uses advanced behavioral and imaging tools such as circadian tracking, calcium imaging, viral injections, and fluorescent viruses introduced through invasive surgeries, giving researchers a rare window into real-time brain activity. “We implant agents into the brain to help us see into it,” she explained, detailing how her team maps protein activity and brain cell encoding during behavioral experiments.
Beyond research, she encouraged engagement with local Alzheimer's chapters through events, fundraisers, and university-led educational talks. “Participate! there are so many ways to get involved,” she shared. One of the most powerful takeaways was her reflection on the biggest challenge in fighting the disease: “The biggest barrier is early detection… once it’s identified, it snowballs.”
This conversation reaffirmed our mission, not just to spread awareness, but to empower students to understand the science and take action early, with empathy and urgency.
-Meera Menon
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