Class of 2028 · Mercersburg Academy · Aspiring Neuroscientist

I'm not a scientist yet.
But I already know why I want to become one.

Both of my grandfathers are losing themselves to brain disease — one to Parkinson's, one to Alzheimer's. Modern medicine has treatments. It doesn't have cures. That felt unacceptable to me. So I started reading, researching, and building. This is where I document everything.

Read my story → Explore the journal →
Where this all began

Two grandfathers. Two diseases.
One reason to keep going.

I grew up between two worlds. In South Korea, surrounded by family. At Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, learning to think independently and rigorously. But no matter where I am, I carry the same weight: both of my grandfathers are being taken apart by diseases that science still cannot reverse.

My maternal grandfather has Parkinson's disease. He was one of the most present people I've ever known — warm, deliberate, always there. I watched his hands start to tremble. I watched him lose the steadiness that I associated with him so completely that it felt like losing part of who he was. The doctors gave him medication. They talked about managing symptoms. No one talked about a cure, because there isn't one.

My paternal grandfather has Alzheimer's disease. With him, the loss has been different — slower in some ways, more disorienting. He forgets things. Then he forgets people. There are days he looks at me and I can see him searching — reaching for something that used to be automatic. Both of them treated me like I was the most important person in any room. They gave me memories I will carry my whole life. They deserve better than what medicine currently offers them.

Losing someone to memory loss isn't like losing them all at once. It's hundreds of small losses — a name, a story, a moment of recognition. And each one reminds you how much still needs to be discovered.

I didn't set out to become interested in neuroscience. I became interested in it the way you become interested in anything that feels urgent — because the alternative was just watching, and I couldn't do that. So I read. I found papers on dopamine and alpha-synuclein aggregation. I learned what plaques and tangles actually are and why they kill neurons. I read about deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's and about anti-amyloid antibodies for Alzheimer's. I stayed up past 2 a.m. reading about clinical trials. I wasn't looking for comfort. I was looking for a way in.

That's when neurotechnology entered the picture. Brain-computer interfaces. Augmented reality as a diagnostic tool. Biosensors that detect neurological change before symptoms appear. Meta glasses that might one day map how perception breaks down in disease. I realized that the future of neuroscience wasn't just biology — it was the intersection of biology and technology. And that's the intersection I want to live and work in.

This website is where I document that journey. Every concept I learn, every paper I wrestle with, every question I can't yet answer — it goes here. I'm a junior in high school. I don't have the answers. But I'm building the foundation to find them.

55M+
People living with dementia worldwide — a number expected to triple by 2050
10M+
People living with Parkinson's disease globally, with no cure in sight
0
Diseases that fully reverse Alzheimer's or Parkinson's progression — as of today
$3B+
Invested annually in neurodegenerative disease research — progress is happening, but slowly
The diseases I'm studying

Understanding what I'm up against

Before you can help solve a problem, you have to understand it. Here's what I've learned so far about the two diseases shaping my life and my research direction.

Parkinson's Disease
My maternal grandfather's diagnosis
Parkinson's is caused by the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in a brain region called the substantia nigra. Without enough dopamine, movement becomes difficult to control. The hallmarks — tremors, rigidity, slowness — are just the visible surface. Beneath them is a process of protein misfolding: clumps of alpha-synuclein called Lewy bodies accumulate and kill neurons. Current treatments manage symptoms but don't stop the underlying damage. Deep brain stimulation, the most advanced intervention available, sends electrical pulses into the subthalamic nucleus to reduce tremors — but it doesn't touch the cause.
Alzheimer's Disease
My paternal grandfather's diagnosis
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, responsible for 60–70% of cases. It's defined by two pathological features: amyloid-beta plaques that accumulate between neurons, and tau tangles that form inside them. Together, they disrupt and eventually destroy neural communication. Memory goes first because the hippocampus — the brain's memory center — is hit earliest. There are now FDA-approved anti-amyloid antibodies like lecanemab that can slow progression in early stages, but they don't reverse damage. The window for intervention, if there is one, is before symptoms begin — which is why early detection through biomarkers and imaging is one of the most important frontiers in the field right now.
What I care about

My research interests

Four areas at the intersection of neuroscience and technology — the ones I keep returning to, the ones I think matter most.

Tech
Meta Glasses & AR
Most people see Meta glasses as a consumer product. I see them as a potential research tool — a way to study perception in real environments, track subtle behavioral changes that signal early disease, and eventually build assistive overlays for patients with cognitive decline. The brain constructs reality from sensory input. AR disrupts that process in controlled ways. That makes it scientifically interesting.
 Neuroscience
Brain Mapping
The human brain has 86 billion neurons and roughly 100 trillion synaptic connections. We've mapped less of it than we've mapped the ocean floor. New tools — ultra-high-field fMRI, calcium imaging, single-cell sequencing — are beginning to change that. I'm particularly interested in the circuits involved in memory formation and motor control: the exact systems disrupted by Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
 Personal
Parkinson's & Alzheimer's
This is the one that started everything. Two grandfathers, two diagnoses, zero cures. I study these diseases not just to understand them academically but because understanding them is the first step toward doing something about them. Every paper I read on alpha-synuclein, every article on amyloid clearance, every clinical trial result — it all goes toward the same goal.
 Biotech
Biotech Frontiers
CRISPR can now edit a single nucleotide with near-surgical precision. Viral vectors can ferry therapeutic genes directly into neurons. Wearable biosensors can detect neurological changes months before clinical symptoms appear. These tools are being used in labs and clinical trials right now. The most important breakthroughs in brain disease will come from people who understand both the biology and the engineering.
My mission

The most important frontier isn't outer space. It's inside our skulls.

We send satellites to map distant planets. We build particle accelerators to study the smallest units of matter. And yet the three-pound organ that does the observing — the one that holds every memory, every personality, every dream — remains largely unmapped and poorly understood.

I believe the next great era of discovery is neurological. I believe the tools being built now — brain-computer interfaces, AR overlays, single-cell sequencing, gene therapies — will do for brain disease what antibiotics did for infection. And I believe that the people who will make that happen are in high school right now, learning how to ask the right questions.

I'm one of them. And I'm getting started.

Research journal

Latest entries

My ongoing record of what I'm reading, learning, and thinking about — in public, from the beginning.

01
Neuroscience
Deep brain stimulation — shocking the brain back to life
Surgeons implant electrodes deep in the brain and send electrical pulses into the subthalamic nucleus. For many Parkinson's patients, tremors stop almost immediately. I wanted to understand exactly how — and why it still doesn't count as a cure.
Entry 01 · Parkinson's Disease
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02
Biotech
Lecanemab and the hope of slowing Alzheimer's
In 2023, the FDA approved lecanemab — an antibody that clears amyloid plaques from the brain. It's the most significant Alzheimer's drug in decades. I read the trial data and tried to understand what "slowing progression by 27%" actually means for a patient.
Entry 02 · Alzheimer's Disease
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03
Tech
What Meta glasses taught me about how the brain builds reality
AR forces the brain to integrate real and digital information simultaneously. The way it handles — or fails to handle — that integration reveals how visual processing actually works. And it opened my mind to what these devices could do in a clinical setting.
Entry 03 · Neurotechnology
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04
Biotech
Could CRISPR edit away Parkinson's?
Some Parkinson's cases are linked to mutations in LRRK2 and PINK1. If CRISPR can correct a single DNA letter, could it fix these mutations before neurodegeneration begins? I read the early research — and found both real promise and honest obstacles.
Entry 04 · Gene Therapy
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View all journal entries →
About

Who I am

I'm a South Korean student at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, rising junior, Class of 2028. I came to the United States as a boarding student, which means I live between two cultures — carrying the warmth of Korean family traditions and the rigorous academic environment of an American prep school.

My interest in neuroscience didn't come from a class. It came from my family. My maternal grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, my paternal grandfather with Alzheimer's. Two of the most important men in my life, each losing something essential to brain disease. They were the kind of grandfathers who made every visit feel like the most important day of the week — patient, generous, deeply present. Watching them change made me want to understand why. And then it made me want to do something about it.

I don't know yet whether I'll go into research, medicine, bioengineering, or something that doesn't have a name yet. But I know the problem I want to work on for the rest of my life.

NeuroLens is where I build toward that. It's a research journal, a learning log, and a long-term commitment made public. Every entry represents something I genuinely tried to understand — not something I skimmed. The best way I know to honor what my grandfathers gave me is to build something that might, one day, give something back.

School
Mercersburg Academy, Pennsylvania · Boarding student
From
South Korea · Class of 2028
Currently exploring
Deep brain stimulation, CRISPR, anti-amyloid therapies, AR neuroscience, brain mapping
Long-term goal
Contribute to curing Parkinson's and Alzheimer's — through research, biotech, or both
This site is
A living journal of learning — not a finished product. Updated as I go.
Personal
Two grandfathers. Two diagnoses. One reason to keep reading past midnight.