Yizhou Yu, a PhD student in the Martins lab, was the runner-up in the international Falling Walls Emerging Talents pitch finals this week.

Falling Walls is an annual competition that challenges students and early-career professionals of all disciplines to pitch their innovative ideas to an audience, including a panel of judges, in just three minutes. It is an opportunity to showcase breakthrough research that creates a positive impact on science and society.

After winning the Cambridge heat in the summer, Yizhou competed in the finale held in Berlin this week alongside 99 others from across 64 countries.

His talk *Breaking the Wall of Dementia* addressed the lack of personalised treatments for Alzheimer’s disease by using genetics, cells & AI. His research led to probiotic bacteria that delay neuron death, offering hope for treating this disease.

Congratulations Yizhou. You can watch Yizhou's talk in the video below (recorded at the Falling Walls Cambridge heat).