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Inaugural scholarship provides a bost to Alzheimer’s studies

Anna Brain

Receiving the Rhonda Ewart Honours Scholarship in Dementia Care to study Alzheimer’s disease, was an unexpected honour and gift for Anna Brain.

The 22 year-old student from the North West Coast, who is completing her honours studies with the Faculty of Health’s Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, is the first-ever recipient of the $5,000 scholarship which was introduced last year as part of the University’s 125th anniversary.

“It’s absolutely amazing and I am so grateful to be awarded the scholarship,” Miss Brain said.

“Coming from the North West Coat and having to move to Hobart to study - financially it is really helpful.

“But also knowing that what I am studying is important and appreciated makes it feel that much more meaningful.”

With a strong interest in neuroscience and helping people, Miss Brain spent her ‘gap’ year after college as a volunteer paramedic, before embarking on her neuroscience studies.

“I’ve always been interested in the brain, I just find it so fascinating – that’s what drew me originally to neuroscience and from there I was drawn to neurodegenerative diseases,” she said.

“A person can change so rapidly just from developing these diseases and there’s really not a lot that can be done for them at the moment.”

Miss Brain’s honours thesis will involve researching the role of neurofilaments in Amyloid Precursor Protein transport and processing.

Amyloid Precursor Protein forms the amyloid beta plaques which occur in Alzheimer’s disease.

Miss Brain recently had the honour of meeting with scholarship benefactor and long-time University of Tasmania employee Rhonda Ewart, following the announcement of her success.

Ms Ewart said her personal experience with her mother who had Alzheimer’s moved her to provide the scholarship, to support research towards finding a cure for the debilitating disease.

“I’ve always been interested in health matters but I’ve become more aware of what a debilitating illness Alzheimer’s is and how it affects people’s lives,” Ms Ewart said.

“It is family and friends it makes such a big mark on … it’s such a terrible disease.”

Ms Ewart said it was wonderful to see young people wanting to carry out Alzheimer’s research.

“Alzheimer’s is discussed so much now and our students are becoming more attuned to the disease as well,” she said.

“I think at this stage it is going to require a big effort from all of us to find a cure.

“Let’s hope Anna inspires a few people.”

Published on: 11 Aug 2016 12:21pm