I remember as a graduate student at Dalhousie University, I saw the play, The Bear Came Over the Mountain. It’s the classic play about Alzheimer’s disease based on Alice Munroe’s book.

For a long time afterwards, I thought about people affected by this disease and what their lives were like. It really touched me.

Later, when my grandmother went into a nursing home after her stroke, I started to see residents there who were living with Alzheimer’s disease.

I couldn’t help but think about how great it would be if I could do something to promote their recovery, to help them regain their ability to learn and remember.

It’s exciting to be in the lab. I love the thrill of discovery and being the first to find out things.  But what really motivates me is the hope that my research into how neurons are born in adult brains might one day lead to new treatments.

While the brain is probably the most complicated organ in our bodies, we are learning more and more about it.

For example, we know newborn neurons in adult brains are key to learning and memory. So it would make me very happy if I could figure out how to promote the birth of new neurons in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Learn more about Dr. Diane Legace’s exciting research or other researchers we fund.

Dr. Diane Lagace

University of Ottawa

Funded by the Alzheimer Society Research Program