Imperial scholars

I’ve always been fascinated by the brain, the nervous system, and understanding the biological functions that make us who we are. That’s why I chose to study neuroscience at the University of St Andrews in Scotland where I became interested in neurodegeneration, and especially how it can affect so many different parts of the nervous system, from memory to movement. That led me to the exciting emerging fields of bioinformatics and synthetic biology – and to Imperial’s DeepMind Scholarship.

When I heard that I had won the scholarship, I just felt ecstatic, because I know how stressful it is when you’re trying to study under financial pressure. I had to work part time throughout my undergraduate degree and had just enough to cover my rent and basic living costs. Knowing that I wouldn’t have to worry, and could just focus on the science and my studies, was an amazing relief. The scholarship not only covers the full course and living costs, but also support for equipment – my ancient laptop was literally falling apart! – and conference attendance. I was able to attend the British Neuroscience Association’s conference in Brighton, which was fantastic: it gave me the chance to network with leading figures in neuroscience and learn more about advances in the field. Plus, it was inspiring seeing just how science happens and is communicated.

What I’ve loved most about my Imperial experience is engaging with people from different backgrounds and scientific disciplines and seeing how they approach a problem. I’m passionate about how interdisciplinary research can be used to advance science. In the future, I want to do a PhD exploring the genetic basis of neural degeneration, looking at understanding the causes and progression or identifying targets for treatments. And beyond that? Perhaps to go further into the question of whether ageing is a natural process or a form of disease. But above all, I want to do solid, useful research that will help improve lives.

When my beloved grandpa was diagnosed with dementia, I wanted to do something to help him. I was studying Product Design at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and doing undergraduate research on dementia games. Realising that such interventions could be improved, I set up a company to create multisensory rehabilitative games and installations aimed at enhancing the lives of seniors with dementia in nursing homes, hospitals and day care centres.

Wanting to research and develop interventions for people like my grandfather, I hoped to study at Imperial. However, it was extremely expensive, but my dream was realised when I was awarded the President’s PhD Scholarship.

I realised that mindfulness could bring benefits to both the caregiver and the person with dementia, and I wanted to bring them some form of comfort and reduce their stress and worries. As both go through each stage of the disease, it is demoralising on the emotional, intellectual and physical level, with more challenging and extremely stressful, uncertain situations to cope with.

So for my PhD, I’ve developed innovative interventions, using conversational agents such as Alexa to bring mindfulness to dementia patients and their caregivers. I have worked alongside them for the past four years, and developed five mindfulness activities, carefully designed to consider content, difficulty level, diction, tone, flow and resulting experience.

It’s been an eye-opening experience to be exposed to so many different cultures and, at the same time, find so many like-minded people to connect with. I made so many close and dear friends who I speak to every day, even though I’m now back in Singapore. Without the President’s Scholarship, I would not have had the opportunity to go deeper into this work, which I believe will add to the growing field of improving the lives of persons living with dementia, and their caregivers.