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What type of research experience(s) have you had?

The topic of my research project is analyzing the relationship between peripheral (taken from a blooddraw) mitochondrial biomarkers and changes in brain signalling that occur with Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease. I began conducting this research in September 2024 as a volunteer in Dr. Wiesman鈥檚 lab and havecontinued as a USRA recipient this summer.

How did you get involved in research, and why?

I got involved with Dr. Wiesman鈥檚 lab after speaking with him during a BPK MindMatters nature walk and learning that he was actively researching many of the topics that interested me most as a Behavioural Neuroscience student. I wanted to get involved in research to practice putting what I have learned as a student to use outside of the classroom, to gain experience with practical problem solving in a research setting, and to develop new skills that aren鈥檛 critical as an undergraduate but will be vital to many professional fields.

What was something challenging or unique you have encountered through your research, and how did you overcome it?

Before beginning this project, my experience with computer programming was limited. I was challenged to develop this skill quickly, as analyzing quantitative neuroimaging data is next to impossible and incredibly inefficient without the use of programming languages like R. With constant and patient support from Dr. Wiesman and others in the lab I have been able to overcome my lack of previous experience and successfully use R to find exciting relationships in our data.

Describe a particularly memorable experience you had in research, or something that you will take away from being involved in research?

The most memorable experience so far of my time spent in research has been the day that we began to see that changes in mitochondrial function are significantly related to altered brain signaling in patients with Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease. Dr. Weisman and I were quite excited to see that all the work we had done was leading to something that was worth continuing to investigate.

What is one thing you learned about being involved in research that you didn鈥檛 expect?

I didn鈥檛 expect research to be as collaborative as it is. One of my reservations about research was that I would end up sitting alone at a computer and not speaking to anyone aside from the occasional meeting with a supervisor. My experience has been pleasantly different. There is constant collaboration both within our lab and between labs in the Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology that allows me to gain a broader understanding of the research that is being conducted in neuroscience at SFU.

Suggested key words / searchable terms:

[Dr. Alex Wiesman], [Sean Kriwokon], [Subject area: neuroscience, Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease, cellular energetics], [The Neurophysiology of Aging and Neurodegeneration Lab]

What type of research experience(s) have you had?

The topic of my research is peripheral neuropathies, an umbrella term for a variety of disorders that cause persistent pain, numbness, tingling and/or burning symptoms. I first completed a directed studies literature review to both understand and attempt to diagnose my mother's mysterious case of peripheral neuropathy that had stumped her doctors for 5 years. With Dr. Hoffer's guidance, I was successful in identifying the cause of her condition. By researching her case, we quickly realized that peripheral neuropathy was a very large and under颅 researched area that warranted further development into an honours thesis research topic. I have since completed my honours thesis, presented my research at SFU BPK's 2025 Research Day (where I placed first in the undergraduate competition) and now continue to collaborate with Dr. Hoffer toward publishing a comprehensive guide to diagnosing and treating peripheral neuropathies, mainly aimed to assist primary care doctors.

How did you get involved in research, and why?

I became interested in research when I took Dr. Hoffer's BPK 448 class; I had a genuine interest in the material he was teaching and I didn't want to stop learning about the neurology field when the class ended. I asked him if he had any research opportunities and after multiple conversations, we started a directed studies literature review. I didn't realize it at the time since my motivation came from the interest in class material, but my research focus soon shifted to helping my mom deal with a debilitating disease that Dr. Hoffer believed we could diagnose with in-depth research. Dr. Hoffer developed an innovative medical device called Lungpacer, which is now FDA-approved and is being used to help people who require mechanical ventilation, which he created with his mother as the primary motivator and it has been fulfilling to have a similar influence.

What was something challenging or unique you have encountered through your research, and how did you overcome it?

The most challenging period during my research was developing a peripheral neuropathy diagnostic flowchart to help guide both clinicians and patients. Starting was daunting, I found it difficult to classify each disorder in its proper category. I spent hundreds of hours trying to put it together in an easy-to-follow way and upon finishing, I realized that it still didn't make sense and that something was wrong with it. I spent time trying to reason out what was stumping me and it hit me that there was a huge gap that was never discussed in the existing literature, or improperly classified with how diagnosis was being made. This will become one of the main points in our future publications, as it should help address the fact that currently up to 80% of peripheral neuropathies go undiagnosed.

Describe a particularly memorable experience you had in research, or something that you will take away from being involved in research?

A memorable experience I had was presenting at the 2025 BPK Research Day. I spent an exorbitant amount of time researching this topic and it began to feel like I was getting caught up in the fine details that come with conducting a deep dive into one area of research. At Research Day, I was approached by many students, faculty and parents who themselves are living with peripheral neuropathies or have someone close to them who is. Most had a similar story about their symptoms starting suddenly and not dissipating and not being able to get the care that they needed. Many had been improperly diagnosed and had been going through a multi-year process to start to get clinical relief. All of them felt that the diagnostic flow chart I developed would help them, along with the rest of my research on tests for diagnosis and treatment. Seeing so many people experience the hardship that comes with this disorder gave me a sense of validation and that I was doing something that was helping people; after all, this disorder impacts about 2.4% of the world's population. I believe the key to the success of this research was getting caught up in the fine details; those details are what can help people, since there isn't anyone who has taken the time to research it in sufficient depth.

What is one thing you learned about being involved in research that you didn't expect?

I didn't expect how much time, attention to detail and perseverance must go into the small details in research. Before researching, I always thought that it was about making big discoveries and/or breakthroughs which is what made research valuable. In my experience, I found much of the work is in troubleshooting, tracking down hard-to-find resources and navigating a very unorganized field of literature and turning this into a cohesive set of diagnostic guidelines that could help clinicians and patients. It showed me that research isn't only about results, building a foundation for future work and putting countless hours into small tasks that can help further a body of research is equally, if not more important.

Suggested key words I searchable terms:

[Andy Hoffer], [Max Karp], [Subject area: peripheral neuropathy, pain, neurology, nervous system, chronic disease,