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Headlines 13 Why is the brain/neurology/ neuroscience intriguing and interesting to you? The brain and the nervous system as a whole is so complex and we know relatively little about it, yet it is arguably the most important system in the body. How do you approach challenges in your work as a researcher? Research can be frustrating especially when things do not work out the way you anticipated. However, a change in mindset that has helped me is that failure is a result that can be just as important as success. More often than not, failure is the only way that you can find out something new. For instance, my first patented idea came about when I was trying to problem-solve a failed experiment. What inspires you to continue your work? What inspires me is the hope that one day, I will walk into a pharmacy and spot medications that I have helped to develop and that these medications will improve the lives of people all around the world. It’s profound and quite humbling. What excites you about being in the neuroscience field at the moment? There is so much innovative research going on, not just in New Zealand but throughout the world. From gene therapies to precision medicines and much more. It's exciting reading about bold new ideas that challenge the traditional way of thinking about developing new drugs to treat neurological diseases. What advice would you offer young people (especially females) looking to start a career in the science/research field? Go for it and don’t be deterred by this misplaced idea that females cannot succeed in science! In vitro In vitro is Latin for “within the glass.” When something is performed in vitro , it happens outside of a living organism. Ex vivo Ex Vivo is Latin for “out of the living". It refers to a procedure in which an organ, cell, or tissue are taken from a living body for a treatment or procedure, with minimal changes to the tissue’s natural state. In vivo In vivo is Latin for “within the living.” It refers to work that’s performed in a whole, living organism. Each year the generous donations from our supporters fund as many as 50 grants. This includes a range of fellowships. One of these, the First Fellowship, was launched in 2019 and is intended to provide personal support for outstanding early career researchers so that they can complete their first postdoctoral fellowship under the close mentorship of a more senior scientist. Dr Lola Mugisho is a postdoctoral research fellow who holds a Neurological Foundation First Fellowship and is the Deputy Director of the Buchanan Ocular Therapeutics Unit at the University of Auckland. Dr Mugisho completed her PhD at the University of Auckland in 2018. Since then, she has been awarded several prestigious grants and awards including the New Horizons Women’s Trust Margaret L Bailey Science Award as well as a being as an associate investigator on a Health Research Council COVID-19 research grant. Lola’s research focusses primarily on understanding the role of the inflammasome pathway in chronic inflammatory diseases. Her expertise includes developing novel in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models in which to test new therapies for neuroinflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Lola was recently a part of our Women in Science event panel in Auckland, which is now available to view online.