At three in the morning, the phone rang. My great-grandmother had gone missing. We found her standing outside a closed Soviet-era grocery store. She looked lost and confused. The doctors called it a mental illness caused by aging. It wasn’t. It was Alzheimer’s Disease.

At the time, I didn’t understand what this meant. But over the years, I could not forget that night. However, as the years passed, this night remains vivid in my memory. Later, I saw the same signs in my grandmother. This time, we knew what was happening, but knowing didn’t help much. Armenia doesn’t have systems that support families dealing with dementia. We were left to manage it on our own. That story not only ignited my passion for science but also shaped my mission to build upon the systems and resources my country doesn’t have.

This isn’t just about my family. It’s a national problem. Armenia is aging fast. By 2050, one in four Armenians will be over 65. According to data I help coordinate through Alzheimer’s Care Armenia and the National Dementia Registry, over 26,000 people in the country already live with dementia. Nearly six percent of adults over 60 are affected. Yet many still think dementia is part of normal aging or confuse it with mental illness. This leads to delays in care or wrong diagnoses. Most primary care doctors don’t have the training or tools to respond. Armenia has only one PET scanner, located in Yerevan. In rural areas, access to brain imaging or biomarker testing is almost nonexistent. For many families, diagnosis comes too late — or not at all.

This is hard to accept, especially because science is constantly moving forward for the rest of the world. We now understand better how Alzheimer’s begins in the brain. We can detect it years before symptoms appear. Imaging and molecular tests offer real hope for early detection. But this progress hasn’t reached countries like Armenia. The gap between science and access is growing. That’s the gap I desire to close.

To do that, I plan to study neuroscience at the University of Toronto, focusing on aging, neurodegeneration, and imaging. Toronto has what I need — strong labs, a clinical network, and global partnerships. I don’t want to study Alzheimer’s in theory. I want to detect it earlier, understand its pathways, and learn how to build care systems that will work in settings like mine.

I’ve already started preparing. I’ve done research at the Armenian Bioinformatics Institute, the Institute of
Molecular Biology, and the COBRAIN Center. I studied microbiome dynamics, neurodevelopment, and Alzheimer’s pathology. I’ve also taken advanced courses in neuroscience and imaging through programs linked to Johns Hopkins and Duke. These experiences gave me a strong foundation. More importantly, they taught me that science has to work in context: it has to fit the realities of the place it’s meant to serve.

That’s why, after my degree, I want to return to Armenia and create the country’s first early detection and neuroimaging center for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. It would offer screenings, create educational materials in Armenian, train doctors to spot early signs, and join international research networks. It would respond directly to Armenia’s needs, infrastructure, and constraints. My goal is not to import a solution, but to build one that fits.

To make this happen, to extend beyond my means in this way, I need support. The HUYS Scholarship would help me to achieve my goals, and come back ready to put my education and skills to use. My family and friends have helped me get this far. Now I’m asking for your help to take the next step.

This is not just about my personal path. It’s about doing something useful for Armenia and the wider Armenian community. Our elders deserve better care. Families deserve answers and support. One center won’t solve everything. But I believe that systems can grow and evolve. They can earn trust. They can improve lives.

My journey started with a phone call and silence. Now I want it to lead to action — not someday, but soon. Not in theory, but in practice.

I am aware that Huys Foundation is granting the Huys Scholarship to me with the anticipation of my good faith pursuit and implementation of the projects and undertakings described in this letter, to which I hereby commit.