Dr Szu-Han Wang

BBSRC New Investigator Fellow

Background

  • BBSRC New Investigator Award, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh
  • Caledonian research fellow, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, University of Edinburgh
  • Postdoc, Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, University of Edinburgh
  • Postdoc, Programs in Mental Health and Neurosciences, the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
  • PhD, Psychology, McGill University, Montreal
  • MSc, BSc, Psychology (minor in Education), National Cheng-Chi University, Taipei

Research summary

I am passionate about understanding how learning and memory is formed and its underlying brain mechanisms.

Currently, I am investigating how peri-learning events affect memory persistence (Fig 1), how prior experience affects subsequent learning, and how memory consolidation (Fig 2) and reconsolidation (Fig 3) occur in the brain (focusing on the hippocampus, amygdala, and frontal cortex).

Together, these studies point to an integrated perspective on the learning and memory process instead of treating it as an isolated event. This view has major implication in translating preclinical models to clinical studies and in stimulating treatments for memory-related disorders.

My research involves multiple approaches that include developing and implementing behavioural models, central and peripheral cannulation or catheterisation, pharmacological application, and in vivo (functional MRI) and in vitro (immunohistochemistry) bran imaging.

Collaborators

  • Prof Megan Holmes, Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh
  • Dr Masanori Sakaguchi, Associate Professor, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Japan

Sources of funding

  • BBSRC
  • Caledonian Research Foundation/ Royal Society of Edinburgh
  • Wellcome Trust- Institutional strategic support fund
  • Royal Society research grant