Congratulations to Gabrielle Briggs who has taken out second place in the Three Minute Thesis trans-Tasman grand final, held in Queensland this week.

Gabrielle competed against 33 PhD students from universities across Australia and New Zealand and won $2000 to go towards her research on Parkinson’s Disease.

Gabrielle is a second year PhD (Medical Biochemistry) candidate and won the title with her presentation "Regulation of Tyrosine Hydroxylase".

Gabrielle summarises her research as:

"Parkinson's disease involves the mysterious death of a group of neurons, leading to the characteristic symptoms of tremors and rigidity. Until the cause of this disease is discovered, a cure cannot be found. My PhD involves trying to find out why these cells die. Specifically, my research aims to prove a theory that the neurotransmitter, dopamine, made in these cells, is toxic when it breaks down."