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Delshad Kalantary is a second year PhD student in Neuroscience at the Center for Brain Research, The University of Auckland. During her doctoral years, Delshad built an Optogenetic device that beams light onto the brain to potentially reverse memory loss, the main symptom of Alzheimer’s Disease. Delshad’s passion for coding and neuroscience lead her to construct this machine that will allow her to ‘hack’ into the brain.
Optogenetics is an approach of controlling and monitoring the activity of brain cells. Using this Optogenetic machine, Delshad aims to manipulate and eves-drop the activity of a specific neuronal population that is not adequately regulated in Alzheimer’s Disease. This cutting-edge technique could become a therapeutic treatment to this neurodegenerative disorder.
Check out her recent interview
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2022/06/01/delshad-kalantary-neuroscience-research.html
for more information on her work and research.
In 2022, Delshad was awarded with a doctoral scholarship from The Freemasons Foundation. Among her other doctoral awards include The J.N Tata Scholar award (2021), The University of Auckland Doctoral Award (2021, The Falling Walls Berlin Award from
The Royal Society of New Zealand (2018).