“This experience meant more to me than I honestly expected. I was truly honored from the beginning to have been this year’s inductee into the Wausau School District Hall of Fame, but it meant even more to me as the night of May 17th progressed,” Nicholson said. “Not many students have the opportunity to return to their school district to thank all of the educators and school staff for making such a difference in their lives (including my mom, who was such a huge role model for me), so for that, I was genuinely thankful. It was wonderful to see so many of my past teachers once again and to share memories of many years ago. It was also very moving on a personal note to hear from so many people (some that I never knew previously) about how my dad affected and changed their lives in ways that I was never aware. Thanks again for this wonderful honor and opportunity. I will never forget it!!”
Dr. Nicholson’s plaque now hangs on the Hall of Fame wall in the Nicholson Board Room, adjacent to her father’s plaque ~ Dr. Theodore H. Nicholson ~ for whom the Nicholson Board Room is named.
Dr. Alexandra (Andra) Nicholson graduated from Wausau East High School in 2001 and earned her bachelor of science degree in biochemistry from Beloit College in 2005. She was accepted into the Integrated Graduate Program at Northwestern University in Chicago where she obtained her Ph.D. in Biomedical Science specializing in cellular neuroscience in 2010.
While pursuing her Ph.D., Alexandra focused her studies on the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and completed her dissertation project that uncovered potential insights into the reasons why aged neurons are more likely to succumb to this devastating disorder. Her graduate research efforts led her to co-author four peer-reviewed research articles and one book chapter during her five years at Northwestern.
Upon completing her graduate studies, Alexandra accepted a research position at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, where she continued her research in the field of neurodegeneration from 2010 to 2017. During her time at Mayo Clinic, Alexandra co-authored an additional 19 publications in high-impact journals, that mainly focused on the genetic and biochemical pathways that contribute to frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and two additional publications were submitted for journal review. In addition to her work at Mayo Clinic, Alexandra was also an Adjunct Professor of Biology at Florida State College at Jacksonville where she taught 100- and 200-level biology lectures and laboratories in the evenings from 2011 to 2016.
In July 2017, Alexandra accepted a position as the Associate Director of Research Partnerships for a dementia research non-profit organization: The Bluefield Project to Cure FTD. In this position, Alexandra establishes and maintains collaborations with scientific academic researchers, as well as biotech and pharmaceutical industry partners, with the goal of finding a cure for frontotemporal dementia. Although this organization is rooted in San Francisco, Alexandra is able to work remotely.
