Miranda Wysoczanski

Graduate Student MSc Clinical Anatomy Candidate

Contact Info mwysocyza@uwo.ca

s What are you currently working on?

“I'm a second-year Master’s student in the Clinical Anatomy program in Dr. Shawn Whitehead's lab. My research project focuses on white matter inflammatory cells and their relationship with beta-amyloid in Alzheimer's disease. Microglia are the resident immune cells of the brain and these white matter inflammatory cells have been identified as being one of the earliest pathological changes to occur in the Alzheimer's disease brain, along with being predictive of future cognitive decline. My research project is investigating the sex-related-age trajectory of microglia using animal models. We have a pre-clinical rat model that does not develop amyloid plaques to reflect a much earlier stage of disease progression. We also have a rat model that does develop amyloid-plaque pathology to represent a much later stage of disease progression. What’s the clinical anatomy program like? In our first year of the program, we were involved in full-time coursework – we completed a full cadaveric body dissection and other courses such as histology, neuroanatomy along with a teaching and professionalism course. In our second year of the program, we moved to full-time research. Right now we’re working on finishing up our research project and are in the process of completing our teaching certificate. We also TA medical students and several undergraduate courses. I recently also gave a guest lecture, which was one of our milestones in the program.”

“I discovered the Clinical Anatomy program, and I knew right away that it was a perfect fit for me.”

What are some of your future career goals?

“For the longest time, I’ve been very passionate about pursuing a career in the medical field, but clinical research is a very important component in medicine. So, I'm interested in pursuing clinical research down the line as well. So far, my passion for anatomy and teaching have been further solidified in this program and medicine aligns perfectly with my strong desire and interest in pursuing a lifelong career of teaching and learning, but also involving that research component. I've had the opportunity to kind of build on those previous experiences. I definitely want to have a good mix of both research and teaching in my future career.”

What have been some influential steps in your career so far?

“My role as a lead research assistant and my experiences while pursuing my undergraduate honors thesis, ultimately provided me with my first exposure in conducting independent research. The leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills that I obtained were key components for pursuing further education and skill-sets, which I have further built upon throughout my master's research project as well. I was a teaching assistant in biomechanics and I was also involved in several volunteer positions, which provided me with additional teaching experiences. I volunteered with NeoKids, where I had the opportunity to teach children with physical and intellectual limitations how to ride a bike. Aside from research and teaching though, I completed a clinical internship at a cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation center. It provided me with valuable insight pertaining to the clinical aspect of patient care. At the cardiac rehabilitation center, I had the opportunity to help develop patient exercise programs. I believe the clinical opportunities, the teaching and research experiences, and different mentors that I met along way, ultimately led me to pursuing my Master’s in Clinical Anatomy.”

“I was first exposed to research throughout my undergrad, when I pursued my undergraduate honors thesis. This was looking at mechanicalefficiency and heart rate variability in long distance runners. I was also a lead research assistant investigating a diagnostic tool for concussions in athletes. This is where my passion for research stemmed from, ultimately leading me to pursue my Master’s in Clinical Anatomy. While I was researching different Master’s programs, I discovered the Clinical Anatomy program, and I knew right away that it was the perfect fit for me. It aligned so well with my passion for anatomy, along with my interests in research and teaching. It's nice to have that mix of research, teaching and coursework, especially for me coming out of undergrad. The Clinical Anatomy program provides students with the exposure to multiple different avenues in order to help them determine what they really enjoy doing, which is a really unique aspect of the program.”

What drove you to research in anatomy and cell biology?

What is your favourite thing about research?

s “There are honestly many things that I love about research. My current research project is in a field that I really didn't have much exposure to at all before beginning my Master’s. Although this was a big learning curve for me, I am grateful to have been provided with the amazing opportunity to engage in such meaningful research. That’s probably one of my many favorite things about research. But in addition to that, just being in the lab and running experiments is a ton of fun. Two years ago, I never would have imagined performing immunohistochemistry. Reflecting and realizing the incredible amount of knowledge and skill-sets that I've obtained over the past couple of years is incredible. I've met so many amazing people and feel extremely privileged to be surrounded by such a supportive lab environment. This is what ultimately makes it that much more of an enjoyable experience.”