Serena Tang

“Alzheimer’s is a complex, heterogeneous disease, posing significant challenges in diagnostics and treatment; thus, early detection and prevention are key to improving patient outcomes. My project aims to develop computational and statistical methods to characterize the role of the brain’s waste clearance system in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading form of age-related dementia. Due to its multifactorial nature, identifying precise drivers of AD poses a significant challenge. Recent studies showed that cellular waste products such as beta-amyloid (Aβ), one of the earliest biomarkers of AD, can be cleared from the brain through the glymphatic system, the brain’s waste clearance system. Thus, dysfunction of the glymphatic system could contribute to the aggregation of Aß at early disease stages and further pathophysiological disease progression. This project aims to characterize the glymphatic system and its corresponding functions through a study of its structural component, perivascular spaces. Understanding how this system is affected in AD is valuable to understanding early-stage AD progression and unveiling preventative and mitigation strategies, thereby improving clinical outcomes.