My name is Rohan Desai, and I am a third-year undergraduate student currently working in the lab of Maj-Linda Selenica, PhD, to study the effects of TDP-43 proteinopathy in the multi-etiology of the Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), LATE, and FTD spectrum. Having dedicated nearly two years to the Selenica Lab, I can definitively say that nothing feels as rewarding as discovering something previously unknown to the field. Moreover, Dr. Selenica’s unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of my knowledge each and every day has been a great source of inspiration. Unfortunately, the rise of AD prevalence nationwide further emphasizes the need for advances in this field.

My name is Panhavuth Phe and I am a recent neuroscience graduate from the UK College of Arts and Sciences and am also a graduate of the Lewis Honors College. I have received departmental honors from the UK College of Medicine Neuroscience Department and was recognized as the “Most Valuable Committee Member” for the 2022 NeuroWeek that was organized by the three UK undergraduate neuroscience clubs (NeuroCats, Women in Neuroscience, and Minorities in Neuroscience).

We both entered Dr. Murphy’s lab together because we were fascinated by the brain and interested in learning more about the interactions between sleep patterns and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Throughout our time here, though, we also began to understand the full extent to which women have been excluded from research studies across all fields. Unfortunately, this includes research like ours involving AD, despite the fact that two-thirds of AD patients are biologically female.