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Home / 2017 / January / 24 / Investigating nerve-cell degeneration
People, Student Profile

Investigating nerve-cell degeneration

Research opportunities open doors and create purpose for Wyatt Slattery, a grad student in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

January 24, 2017

About

Name
Wyatt Slattery

Role
Graduate student

Program
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Faculty
Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences

Campus
Okanagan (Kelowna, BC)

Education
BSc Hon., Biochemistry, Medical Specialization (UBC Okanagan, 2016)

Hometown
Kelowna, BC

“Getting involved in a research project after second year is unheard of at most universities.”

NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s affect tens of millions of people worldwide.

As a biochemistry and molecular biology master’s student, Wyatt Slattery is using designer chemical probes to help investigate the process of nerve-cell degeneration that contributes to these debilitating diseases.

“Professor Fred Menard’s approach is fascinating,” says Slattery, who works with fellow students and researchers in the Menard Lab at UBC’s Okanagan campus. “He uses a different route to solve problems, like applying chemistry to solve biology questions.

“With Dr. Menard, I’m learning to use intuition and knowledge of chemical processes to help answer questions about human health.”

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Slattery also completed his undergraduate studies at UBC’s Okanagan campus. Research opportunities through the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences were and continue to be the fabric of his academic experience.

“Through the Undergraduate Research Awards and the Honours program, I became interested in learning about neurodegenerative diseases and inflammatory processes,” says Slattery.Why Biochemistry and Molecular Biology?

“Getting involved in a research project after second year is unheard of at most universities.”

The longtime lifeguard and swim instructor says UBC allowed him to discover and hone his passion to help people, and he appreciates he can do it all from a world-class research university in his hometown of Kelowna, BC.

Content type: Profile
More content from: Biology, Irving K Barber School of Arts and Sciences (prior July 2020)

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About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

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We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

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