Verena is a DPhil student investigating the relationship between APOE genotype, brain structure and function and cognitive impairment. During her undergraduate degree in molecular cell biology at the University of Heidelberg she developed her interest for brain science. She worked as a student assistant in the Department of Psychopharmacology at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim where she helped to develop animal models for drug abuse research. After completing her BSc she came to Oxford in 2008 for the MSc course in Neuroscience. In her first research project (supervised by Dr Chris Summerfield) she investigated the biological basis for decision-making in humans. The second project brought her to Clare Mackay and the Neurobiology of Aging Group where she now undertakes her DPhil project funded by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.