東北大学Neuro Global
国際共同大学院プログラム

医学系研究科
Lingling MAI

My background is a little special because I was a pediatrician. When I practiced medicine, I chose to address autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as my major field. After I completed the fellowship training for ASD in the US, I grew my interest in examining the underlying mechanism and moved to Japan to pursue the PhD training under Prof. Osumi’s supervision.

In my second year of master’s course, I joined the Neuro Global Program (NGP), which has provided me with a high platform to get ahead academically in the field of neuroscience. For example, it brings together distinguished researchers and clinicians from the world of neuroscience field in investigating the relationship between mind, brain, and behaviors. I have accessed the most advanced scientific progress in neuroscience through face-to-face lectures, which helped me to develop a breadth and depth of knowledge. Moreover, my study focuses on mouse maternal separation-induced ultrasonic vocalization (USV), a useful mouse model for studying the communicative behavior of neurodevelopmental disorders. The NGP invited several professors, including Prof. Valter Tucci from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Prof. Richard Mooney from Duke University, and Prof. Noboru Hiroi from the University of Texas, to give a lecture. These professors are well known in the field of mice and songbird’s vocalization. Through the NGP, I was able to listen their lecture, discuss with them, and obtain their valuable comments to improve my research.

At the final stage of my PhD, an important task is to publish my research findings. I discovered that advanced paternal age affects early vocal development and increases the number of individuals with atypical development in a mouse model. This discovery suggests that the influence of advanced paternal age can be detectable during infancy and infant crying could serve as a biomarker to assess the development level in humans. Though the results are intriguing, I faced several challenges while writing the manuscript: 1). How to interpret the raw data correctly; 2) How to organize the raw data logically; and 3). What is the most persuasive criterion for identifying the atypical pups? This is thanks to the worldwide academic network of the NGP. I am lucky to be guided by Prof. Noboru Hiroi as well, who has rich experience with USV analyses and mouse models. Because of the COVID-19 situation, I couldn’t physically visit his lab to study. However, he taught and guided me through the ZOOM meeting every one or two weeks depending on my progress and his schedule. He provided his valuable feedback to assist me in overcoming my difficulties. The latest version of the manuscript, which was published, presented a straightened story, persuasive data analyses, and reasonable conclusions with new insight. Prof. Hiroi’s advice definitely played an important role in my study. Therefore, the NGP is an excellent academic interface for raising our students to the level of excellent research.

My experience from NGP tells me that science has no borders; the scientific community has potential for promoting global health. We live in an interconnected world. Digital innovations and an increase in globalization have strengthened our ability to collaborate on research and to share evidence that can impact our world. Staying at the cutting edge of research, creative thinking and scientific breakthroughs do not happen when a researcher works alone. After graduation, I need to develop a culture of collaboration with researchers sharing the common interests all over the world. While the challenges of international work can seem daunting at the beginning, I believe the rewards make it all worthwhile. Last but not the least, it is worth mentioning that English is a key to unlocking the door that connects to the diverse scientific community. As a non-native English speaker, mastering English would be on my list of lifelong learning goals.