Question: Hi Ella, your research sounds really interesting. How does tissue repair link to neuroscience? are you looking at cures for Alzheimer or Parkinson disease?

Ella Mercer answered on 11 Jun 2018:

Thank you! I do have to agree, it is very interesting. So ’tissue’ refers to a collection of cells, so lots of different parts of our bodies! Our heart is tissue, our kidneys are tissue, so are our eyes and brains! So tissue repair in relation to neuroscience is looking at brain repair/fixing brains when they go wrong. I am looking for cures, but my research looks at a disease called Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS is a brain disease that stops the neurons (brain cells) from working properly. Because the brain cells can’t talk to each other properly sometimes patients will fall over or not be able to use their arms. Very young people can get MS – people in their 20’s and there’s no effective treatment or cure right now so it’s important to see how we can fix these people’s brains to make them better!

People I work with also look for cures for brain diseases. My boyfriend is a brain scientist looking for a cure for Alzheimer’s!