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Meenakshi Menon
Name:
Meenakshi Menon
Job Title:
Incoming PhD student in Cognitive Sciences
Place of work / study:
Georgia State University
Area of Research:
Cognitive aging, stereotype threat
How is your research funded:
Grant from NIH
Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a researcher from Bangalore, India. I will be joining Georgia State University as a PhD student in the Cognitive Sciences concentration this Fall. I have worked as a researcher at the Centre for Brain Research within the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India for a year and a half. I was part of the Tata Longitudinal Study of Aging, a long term cohort study exploring the risk and protective factors of Alzheimer’s Disease in an aging urban Indian population. My interests are in studying age based cognitive decline, stereotype threat in aging and its influence on cognition and dementia caregiving. I am also interested in science communication and hope to build my skills in this area.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
I spend my free time making elaborate travel itinerary for places I want to visit in the future. I’m also a design and architecture admirer.
Why did you choose to work in dementia research?
I share a deep bond with my grandparents and closely watched their cognitive functions deteriorate with age. Belonging to a country with a rapidly aging population and lack of resources to address the concerns associated with this population, I wanted to help bridge this gap. I studied coping in the elderly during COVID-19 for my Master’s thesis. During my work at the Centre for Brain Research as part of a longitudinal study on Alzheimer’s Disease, I closely interacted with research participants and carers of persons with AD, which drove me to want to pursue a PhD in the field of cognitive aging, studying cognitive functions particularly memory and language in old age.
What single piece of advice would you give to an early career researcher?
I think it would be to never say never. I found that I really began to grow and understand myself better when I opened up to new opportunities that were sometimes out of my comfort zone. My advice would be to never let an opportunity go by even if it seems difficult to achieve. Belonging to a LMIC with a rapidly aging population I think it’s more important now than ever for young researchers working in the field to put across their work to a global audience.
Favourite ways to unplug and unwind?
Order in some good food and watch a documentary
What book are you reading right now? Would you recommend it?
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Favourite film of all time?
The malayalam movie ‘Kumbalangi Nights’
Can we find you on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn?
Follow Meenakshi Menon on LinkedIn
