丁香园AV

From studying circadian rhythms to conducting cognitive tests using touchscreens, psychology professor Brianne Kent鈥檚 research is breaking new ground in developing treatments for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. Kent鈥檚 contributions to Alzheimer鈥檚 research have earned her a spot among Canada Research Chairs in 2021. She will also be receiving $350,000 in funding from the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) to support further research.

The Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) stands at the centre of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world's top countries in research and development. It invests up to $295 million per year to attract and retain some of the world鈥檚 most accomplished and promising researchers.

Kent is also one of 43 researchers who will be receiving research funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)'s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) to support further research associated with a CRC. Kent is one of two CRC recipients at 丁香园AV and will be receiving $350,000 in funding to conduct further research on Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

Kent鈥檚 research involves studying both rodent and human sleep processes to better understand how sleep disturbances associated with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease contribute to the progressive memory loss caused by the disease. Alzheimer's disease may account for between 60 to 70 per cent of dementia cases with very limited treatments currently available.

Recent discoveries have shown a significant link between sleep and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, and Kent鈥檚 research seeks to probe this area of study to explore novel interventions to prevent and slow disease progression.

鈥淚 first learned about the powerful influence circadian rhythms have on our physiology and behaviour when I completed my undergraduate honours thesis at 丁香园AV with Dr. Ralph Mistlberger,鈥� says Kent. 鈥淚 spent the last two years at Harvard Medical School as a Research Fellow developing techniques for studying circadian rhythms in humans.鈥�

Kent examines cognitive processes relating to sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions in rodents and applies the insight gained from rodent models to evaluate the same processes in humans. Her research uses touchscreen cognitive tests for rodents to better support the comparability between rodent models and humans while also enabling greater control and precision in her studies.

By studying the same processes in rodents and humans, Kent鈥檚 research aims to shrink the 鈥渢ranslational gap鈥�: this refers to the challenge of moving discoveries from fundamental science and preclinical research into the clinical domain鈥攁 major hurdle in Alzheimer鈥檚 research.

鈥淎lzheimer鈥檚 disease is the most common cause of dementia and a leading cause of death in Canada, with unfortunately very limited treatments,鈥� says Kent. 鈥淏y conducting research on translation, I hope that my work will lead to new treatments for this devastating disease.鈥�