In Their Own Words: Merry Ma

Merry Ma, 27 years old, Neuroscience Graduate Program, 3rd Year MD/PhD Student

 Possible treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury

“Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in the world – it can happen to anyone at any time and there’s really nothing to do. You end up going to the hospital and your brain is controlled some, but there’s nothing really doctors can do to protect it or to alleviate the injury that happened. So, what we are thinking that if we can reduce the oxidative stress (naturally relieved by your body when the brain is damaged) we will able to show much reduced brain inflammation. We are proposing that, instead of just targeting specific factors of inflammation, you can target the main cause of inflammation (oxidative stress) and improve the damage outcome. I’m very proud of my research, because this is one of the first studies that shows the direct connection between oxidative stress and inflammation zone activation in a model of TBI. It’s really a field that we need to be identifying, trying to reduce and prevent, because that’s a real silent disease.”

Graduate Research Day, which occurred on March 9, showcases the research accomplishments of students and postdoctoral fellows throughout The Graduate School. For more information about Graduate Research Day, visit The Graduate School.