Pericyte Bridging in Hyperglycemia, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Comorbid Pre-Clinical Models; Bridging Gaps in Biomedical Research: Understanding Sociotechnical Bias in Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease Research 6 views

A major challenge in modern biomedical research is the production of scientific knowledge that does not accurately reflect populations most affected by the disease of interest. This issue can especially be seen in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), two highly prevalent and biologically interconnected conditions that disproportionately impact women and racialized populations. Despite this uneven disease burden, research design, clinical trials, and preclinical models often fail to adequately include these groups. As a result, scientific knowledge is built on incomplete datasets, leading to gaps in diagnosis, treatment efficacy, and disease understanding. This broader problem reveals that biomedical research is not purely objective, but rather shaped by social structures, institutional priorities, and historical inequities. Addressing this issue requires both a technical understanding of disease mechanisms and a critical examination of how research systems produce and validate knowledge. My technical research project investigates a shared vascular mechanism between AD and T2D, known as “Pericyte Bridging”. Pericytes are essential for maintaining microvascular stability, and their dysfunction has been identified as an early feature in both hyperglycemia and amyloid-related pathology. Using confocal imaging and immunofluorescent labeling in mouse models of AD, T2D, and their comorbid state, this project aims to characterize how pericyte bridging changes across disease conditions and how it relates to vascular integrity. By focusing on early microvascular changes in the brain and retina, this work seeks to establish pericyte bridging as a potential early biomarker of disease progression. My STS research examines how structural biases embedded in biomedical research design funding practices, and clinical trial recruitment contribute to persistent health inequities. Drawing on the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) framework, this analysis argues that clinical trials and research methodologies are not neutral, but are shaped by dominant social groups and institutional norms that define who counts as a “standard” patient. These norms contribute to the systematic underrepresentation of women in Alzheimer’s research and racialized populations in T2D trials, despite their higher disease prevalence. Reflective practice further highlights the responsibility of researchers to critically evaluate marginalized groups.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Pericytes, microvasculature, analysis pipeline, ML model, hyperglycemia, Alzheimer’s disease

English

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2026-05-06