Pratishtha Chatterjee (centre) with fellow members of the CoMBAT-AD research team.

A Research Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Pratishtha works with Professor Ralph Martins AO and other Australian and international pioneers in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

Prathistha and her colleagues recently published a breakthrough paper that suggests a blood test could be used to diagnose Alzheimer’s decades before symptoms appear.

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1.  Your journey to Macquarie
I grew up in India. My father was a submariner in the Indian Navy, so I got the opportunity to experience various cities and schools (in Bombay, Delhi, Vizag, Kochi) every couple of years. I then moved to Hyderabad to pursue a Bachelor of Technology degree (in Biotechnology) before I came to Australia for a PhD at the University of Western Australia.

2. Something you’re proud of
Overcoming personal constraints to create an impact, for the betterment of society.

3. Something people usually ask you when they find out what you do for living
“I think I am getting Alzheimer’s – when will you be able to test me?”

4. The first person you go to for advice
My husband, because I trust him.

5. A website or app you can’t live without
Viber/ WhatsApp – I get to see and talk to my parents in India every day!

6. What you like about where you live
I live in Carlingford, which is affordable, quiet, peaceful, and yet close to the University.

7. You’re happiest when…
I get an email from a journal editor which reads something like… “I am pleased to inform you that your article has…. “

8. A personal quality you value in others
An eye for detail and consideration for others.

9. Your definition of success
Achieving a feat which would eventually benefit a sizable cross section of the public.

10. Something you’d like staff to know about
There are so many exciting findings coming up within the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease research space (including our recently published paper in Nature)

You can follow @CoMBAT-AD and @PratishthaChat7 on Twitter to keep up with updates on our research.