Schulich Student Ian Ging Long Chan is a skilled Kung Fu artist, who was eligible for two Olympics Games, but skipped both to focus on his studies.
This decision has led him to his current research on marmoset monkeys. He studies the animal’s sensory receptors, which are the parts of the body that help the monkeys feel the sense of touch, just like in humans.
“I want to better understand the human experience and how we control our bodies,” says Chan, a fourth year undergraduate student in the Pharmacology and Physiology department. “I'm a very active person. That’s what drew me into this research.”
Chan is currently working on a thesis that will help better understand neuropathic conditions like allodynia, which is a condition where people feel pain from something that normally wouldn’t cause pain — such as touching a feather or brushing their teeth.
Outside of his studies, Chan continues to compete in the Chinese martial art of Wushu, which is more commonly known as Kung Fu.
Chan, who was born and raised in Oakville, ON but whose parents are originally from Hong Kong, was a top two Canadian male Wushu performer and was eligible for the Olympics and Pan American games between 2015 and 2020. He also won the silver medal in the 2020 Orillia Ontario Winter Games.
He is in Western’s Wushu club and practices there regularly with other students.
Off the mat, he is working on his undergraduate thesis on Meissner Corpuscles, which is a sensory receptor located on various areas of the skin, specifically sensitive areas, such as fingertips.
To conduct this research, Chan is analyzing monkey fingertips.
“A former research was done on mice, but mice have very fast nerve receptors compared to humans. marmoset monkeys have a physiology more similar to humans,” says Chan.
By analyzing sensory receptors on monkeys, Chan hopes to help develop a better understanding of human neuropathic pain conditions like allodynia.
The study is being conducted at Pruszynski Lab and is being supervised by Dr. Andrew Pruszynski.
“We are trying to understand the sensor innervation of the primate hand, because humans that suffer from conditions that cause peripheral nerve damage do not generally fully recover hand function,” says Dr. Pruszynski.
The research team believes that one factor that is limiting recovery is the lack of information on what normal innervation on the hand looks like. Chan is only analyzing healthy models, which will then serve as a baseline for comparisons with injured models.
Chan’s time at Western is coming to an end, but he has enjoyed his time at the university and all of the memories and experiences he has had inside and outside of the classroom.
“I joined Western with a couple of high-school friends from back home. We’ve enjoyed our time here. I like being around people and Western has a great campus life,” says Chan.
Chan does not yet know what the future holds in store for him, but he has applied to medical school and wants to continue his studies on the human body and how we control it.
Outside of his professional aspirations, Chan hopes to continue to stay active and practice his passion for Wushu.
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