The International Research Grant Program Council

• Washington University School of Medicine, Gainesville, Fla., Professor of Neuroscience, Director of the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Investigator at the Evelyn F. and William L . McKnight Brain Institute and the Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases

Dr. Ganesh Babulal is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, an affiliated investigator of the Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and a faculty scholar with the Washington University Institute for Public Health. His research program investigates how cognitive, emotive and physical age-related changes affect instrumental activities of daily living among older adults with chronic neurological diseases, specifically dementia. Dr. Babulal’s current work examines changes in driving performance and behavior among older adults with and without pre-clinical Alzheimer’s. Dr. Babulal also has strong interests in how the prevalence of cognitive impairment and dementia in low and middle-income countries are influenced by social determinants of health, including multidimensional poverty, literacy/numeracy, stigma, armed conflict and disability.

• University of California – Davis, Davis, Calif., Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Center

Charles DeCarli, M.D., is Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the University of California at Davis, California; and recipient of the Victor and Genevieve Orsi Chair in Alzheimer’s Research. He is the Director of the U.C. Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center, a United States National Institutes of Health funded Alzheimer’s research center. He is also Director of the Imaging of Dementia and Aging (IDeA) laboratory. His research focuses on using advanced structural and functional brain imaging to study normal aging, mild cognitive impairment and dementia; as well as the role of genetics, cerebrovascular and Alzheimer’s disease on these processes. He is a recipient of the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine—Imaging of the Aging Brain in recognition of his work.

• Fan Fan, M.D., M.S., FAHA, Augusta, GA, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology 

Fan Fan, M.D., M.S., FAHA, is an Associate Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University. Her lab uses multidisciplinary approaches with an array of techniques to investigate the genetic-based microvascular dysfunction in aging, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, and its contribution to end-organ damage, including vascular cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's disease-related dementias, and renal disease. The lab's research also focuses on studying the contribution of changes in the actin cytoskeleton in vascular cells to the hemodynamics in cerebral and renal circulation, as well as changes in the actin cytoskeleton in podocytes in glomerular function. Recent findings from the lab reveal that inhibition of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 and soluble epoxide hydrolase can reverse impaired cerebral hemodynamics and cognitive deficits. Dr. Fan's work is funded by the National Institute on Aging and the American Heart Association.

• University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pa., Anthony Buividas Term Chair in Gerontology

Dr. Nancy Hodgson is the Anthony Buividas Term Chair in Gerontology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. For the past 25 years, she has been involved in developing, evaluating and implementing interventions to improve the lives of persons with dementia and their families in community-based settings. Formerly Associate Director of Implementation Science at the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Care in Aging (2014 - 2016) and the Director of Research at the Polisher Research Institute (2005 - 2007), her program of research is specifically focused on the development and translation of biobehavioral interventions to ease neuropsychiatric symptoms for diverse populations of cognitively impaired older adults. She works collaboratively with clinicians, community agencies and long-term care organizations in testing and implementing evidence-based interventions that supports physical, social and emotional functioning. Dr. Hodgson is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) and a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America (FGSA).

• Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

Dr. Jankowsky obtained her undergraduate degree in biology from Amherst College in Massachusetts, followed by her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience from Caltech. In 2000, she moved to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for postdoctoral training in neuropathology, where she first began working on Alzheimer's disease. She returned to Caltech as a Senior Research Fellow, before starting her own laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine in 2008 where her laboratory focuses on the biology of Alzheimer’s. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the NARSAD Young Investigator Award, the NIH Director's New Innovator Award, and most recently the Alzheimer's Association Zenith Fellows Award. Her current work examines three basic questions about Alzheimer's pathogenesis: How does aging increase risk of disease? How do genetics influence this risk? And what makes particular brain areas susceptible to degeneration while others are spared? Outside of the laboratory, she volunteers with the Houston greyhound rescue group to help find homes for retired racers.

• Columbia University, New York, N.Y., Professor, Neuropsychology in Neurology

Jennifer Manly, Ph.D. is a Professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology at the Taub Institute for Research in Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University. Her research focuses on mechanisms of disparities in cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s. She received Early Career awards from the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology and the National Academy of Neuropsychology, received the Tony Wong Diversity Award for Outstanding Mentorship and the International Neuropsychological Society’s Paul Satz Career Mentoring Award, and is an APA Fellow. She served on the HHS Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care and Services from 2011 - 2015.

• New York University School of Medicine, New York, N.Y., Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience & Physiology, Department of Neurology

Dr. Masurkar earned his B.S. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and M.D., Ph.D. in neuroscience from Yale University. He completed his neurology residency, behavioral neurology fellowship and postdoctoral scientific training at Columbia University. In 2016 he joined the Department of Neurology at the NYU School of Medicine, where he is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience & Physiology. There, he combines clinical practice with a translational research program on early Alzheimer's. His interests focus on improving our understanding of neural circuits vulnerable at early stages and clinical symptoms that arise from dysfunction in those structures. To accomplish this, he leads a basic science team applying electrophysiological and molecular techniques in animal models, and also directs the Clinical Core of the NYU Alzheimer's Disease Center to address these issues in human subjects. He is also investigator on interventional clinical trials focused on early Alzheimer's.

• University of Houston, Houston, Texas, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology

Dr. Luis D. Medina is a bilingual and bicultural, licensed clinical psychologist and cultural neuropsychologist. He received his B.A. in psychology from Yale University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology / neuropsychology from the San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Medina completed his clinical pre-doctoral internship at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in adult clinical neuropsychology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. As a member of the Rocky Mountain Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the University of Colorado, he performed postdoctoral research in cognitive aging and neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Medina is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. His research examines the cultural neuroscience of cognitive aging, particularly in the context of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), as well as the clinical assessment and diagnosis of ADRD in underrepresented populations.

• University of California – San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif., Clinical Instructor

Dr. David Soleimani-Meigooni completed his neurology residency at Washington University, where he was chief resident for education and quality improvement. He is presently a behavioral neurology fellow and clinical instructor at the University of California - San Francisco Memory and Aging Center. His research focuses on advancing the precision use of PET biomarkers for diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. The Alzheimer’s Association Clinician Scientist Fellowship Program is supporting this research.

• University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Fla., Director, John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics and Executive Vice Chair, Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics

Dr. Pericak-Vance is Director of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics and Executive Vice Chair of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Board certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties in Medical Genetics, she is a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Her productivity in genetics research has resulted in more than 725 peer-reviewed papers (H-Index = 127, many in high-impact scientific journals). She was part of the team that discovered the effect of the common variant, the E4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, on Alzheimer disease risk. Dr. Pericak-Vance has also identified genetic risk factors for autism, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis. Many of Dr. Pericak-Vanceʹs efforts are directed towards addressing health disparities in genomics research including initiating the Genetic Awareness Project (GAP) to educate South Florida’s Black and Hispanic Communities about the value of genetics and its influence on personal health. She is an organizer of the nationally acclaimed ʺWhy We Canʹt Wait: Conference to Eliminate Health Disparities in Genomic Medicine.ʺ Additionally, she directs several related genetic research projects, one on Alzheimer disease in African Americans and a second on admixed Caribbean Hispanic and Amerindian populations. She is one of the principal investigators of "The Alzheimer Disease Sequence Analysis Collaborative" and she leads the Alzheimerʹs Sequencing Project Follow-up Study which is whole genome sequencing over 40,000 individuals from diverse populations. Dr. Pericak-Vance is the recipient of numerous awards, including the international ʺLouis Dʺ Scientific Prize from the Institut de Franceʹs Academie des Sciences for her Alzheimer’s disease research, the Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alzheimerʹs Association and the Snow and Ming Tsuang Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG) for her lifelong contribution to psychiatric disease research.

• University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa., Head, Alzheimer ’s Disease Genetics Consortium, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Dr. Schellenberg received his Ph.D. from the University of California - Riverside in 1978. Subsequently he was a Research Professor at the University of Washington. In 2008, he became a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. His work focuses in the genetics of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s, progressive supranuclear palsy, different forms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and Guam amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism dementia complex. His career has focused on applying advanced genome technology to the problem of finding the underlying causes of human diseases.

Dr. Schellenberg founded the Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), which is comprised of a group of investigators who are using genome-wide association analysis methods to identify Alzheimer’s disease genes. The ADGC has amassed clinical and genetic information on over 25,000 late-onset Alzheimer’s cases and 30,000 cognitively normal elderly subjects, and identified over 20 novel risk genes for this devastating disease. Dr. Schellenberg and colleagues are now participating in the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) where genomic sequence is being generated for over 4,000 subjects. Dr. Schellenberg is analyzing these data for genetic changes that lead to Alzheimer’s disease with the eventual goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets.

• Fleni-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the School of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires.

Dr. Surace’s laboratory focuses on genetic and biomarker studies of neurodegenerative proteinopathies, including functional validation of novel genomic variants in hereditary cases of Alzheimer’s, frontotemporal dementia and amyotrpohic lateral sclerosis. Also, the laboratory investigates genetic and biological markers of Alzheimer’s in adults with Down syndrome.

• University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Department of Physiology

Donna M. Wilcock, Ph.D. is the Sweeney-Nelms Professor in Alzheimer’s Disease Research at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Wilcock received her B.S. in Pharmacology from Cardiff University. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of South Florida, and completed postdoctoral training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Duke University. Dr. Wilcock’s research is focused on vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), a common cause of dementia and frequent co-morbidity with Alzheimer’s pathology. She is performing translational research on VCID, ranging from studying molecular mechanisms through identification of novel biomarkers in patients. She is primarily focused on inflammatory and angiogenic processes, as well as studying the influence VCID has on the progression and severity of Alzheimer's. Her work is funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

• Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, Professor, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics and Director, Huffington Center on Aging

Dr. Zheng obtained her Ph.D. degree from Baylor College of Medicine in 1990. After a brief postdoctoral training at Baylor, she joined Merck & Co. where she began her research on Alzheimer’s disease, which continued after her return to Baylor in 1999. Dr. Zheng’s expertise is mouse genetics and she is a pioneer in utilizing sophisticated mouse models to probe the biology and pathophysiology of the amyloid precursor protein and presenilins. Dr. Zheng’s current research focuses on the investigation of the autophagy-lysosomal pathway and neuron-immune interaction in Alzheimer’s and related disorders.

Dr. Zheng has published over 100 papers. She is a recipient of the New Scholar Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation and the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association. She served on the Alzheimer’s Association Medical & Scientific Advisory Council from 2011 to 2018. Currently she is a member of the Tau Consortium Scientific Advisory Board and a co-Chair of the Scientific Review Committee of the BrightFocus Foundation.

• The University of Sydney,, Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience

Dr Holsinger’s research interests surround understanding molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease and the -secretase cleaving enzyme (BACE1). This enzyme initiates the generation of amyloid-beta (A), accumulation of which leads to its deposition as amyloid plaques, a pathological feature of Alzheimer’s. Following seminal discoveries of increased BACE1 in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer’s subjects, the laboratory focuses on identifying mechanisms that lead to increased levels of BACE1 and those that regulate its transcription. Dr. Holsinger’s research also focuses on neurotrophic factors, in particular brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its expression in the diseased brain with an aim to regulating levels of these factors for therapeutic benefit. As part of this drive, Holsinger and colleagues employ techniques such as neuromodulation and piezoelectricity to regulate gene and protein expression in tissue and cells.

• University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Toxicology

Walter Swardfager, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the University of Toronto and a scientist in the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program at Sunnybrook Research Institute. He holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in the clinical pharmacology of cognitive neurovascular disorders. Dr. Swardfager’s lab focuses on understanding how disease and dysfunction of the cerebral small vessels contributes to mood symptoms, cognitive decline and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Dr. Swardfager leads a team grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to accelerate the discovery of effective anti-inflammatory strategies to counter cerebral small vessel disease. He is the Principal Investigator of the Sunnybrook Type 2 Diabetes Study, an observational study aimed at understanding the biopsychosocial determinants of cognitive longevity for people living with type 2 diabetes, and the effects of antidiabetic medications on the brain.

• University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, Assistant Professor of Health Psychology and a board-certified Clinical Neuropsychologist

Andrew Kiselica, Ph.D., ABPP-CN, directs the Clinical Evaluation and Research in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ClEaR-ADRD) lab, in addition to providing clinical services in the Adult Neuropsychology Clinic. His research focuses on 1) developing and validating advanced techniques for detecting cognitive change in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease; 2) testing how assistive technologies can improve the lives of people with dementia and their caregivers; and 3) improving understanding of the relationship between stress and cognitive decline. Much of this work was funded by an Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship, and he is pleased to continue working with the Association to guide research funding for innovative projects that help us to better understand, manage, and treat ADRD.

• Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Assistant Professor, College of Human Medicine

Benjamin Combs, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine. He researches the tau protein with the goal of better understanding the protein’s toxic mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias as well as its normal functions. Much of his work focuses on the role of the tau protein in axonal transport and how pathological modifications to the protein disrupt this critical process in disease through modulation of signaling pathways that regulate motor protein function.

• University of Southern California, San Diego, California, Assistant Professor of Research Neurology

Doris Molina-Henry, Ph.D., obtained a B.S. in Biology from Elon University in North Carolina, followed by her Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Anatomy from Wake Forest School of Medicine. She began her work in Alzheimer’s disease and clinical trials as an affiliate faculty member to the Wake Forest Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. She later completed advance training in clinical trials as a fellow for the Institute on Methods and Protocols for the Advancement of Clinical Trials in ADRD in 2020. Dr. Molina-Henry is currently an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. She is a faculty member within the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute and part of the Recruitment and Retention Unit Leadership for the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium. Her research focuses on the exploration and evaluation of recruitment and retention strategies and outreach programs to support engagement and participation of underrepresented groups in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials. She is also interested in the role of blood-based biomarkers in establishing participant eligibility to AD clinical trials.

• University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, Professor, Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Elizabeth Head, M.A, Ph.D., received a Master’s in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Toronto, Canada. She received postdoctoral training at the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND) at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Head moved to the University of Kentucky in 2009 and was a professor and Associate Director of Education at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. After returning to the University of California, Irvine in 2019 she is now a professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Head has published more than 200 peer reviewed papers, over 30 review papers and book chapters. She is active in mentoring and education and serves on the UCI MIND Alzheimer disease research center Research Education Component Executive Committee. Dr. Head has dedicated more than 25 years to the study of aging and Alzheimer disease with a focus on people with Down Syndrome using multidisciplinary and translational approaches.

• Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Fayron Epps, Ph.D., R.N., is currently serving as an assistant professor at Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, Southern Gerontological Society, and Gerontological Society of America. Dr. Epps serves as the principal investigator for the Faith Village Research Lab and is the founder of the Alter Program, a dementia outreach program for African American faith communities. She also serves on the Leadership Core of the Public Health Center of Excellence in Dementia Caregiving at the University of Minnesota. Her program of research involves evidence-based practices for promoting quality of life for African Americans with dementia and their family caregivers/care partners. She is particularly interested in exploring the way religious activities and spiritual connectedness can promote meaningful engagement among persons with dementia across the country. Additionally, Dr. Epps also works to place culturally-tailored evidenced-based programs and interventions in the hands of those individuals who need it the most.

• University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, Assistant Professor, School of Public Health

Jason D. Flatt, Ph.D., MPH, is an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Public Health, Department of Social and Behavioral Health. Dr. Flatt’s current research works to better understand the concerns and needs of diverse LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual as well as additional identities) people living with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease and their care providers. Dr. Flatt also works with several communities on Building H.O.U.S.E, research on affordable and welcoming housing and health for the LGBTQIA+ community. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging; American Federation for Aging Research; Alzheimer’s Association and The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Dr. Flatt’s work has been featured on National Public Radio as well as in U.S. News & World Report, The Advocate, Newsweek, and at the Alzheimer's Association. Learn more about Jason’s research at www.RainbowsofAging.org.

• Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Professor of Translational Neuroscience, College of Human Medicine

Marcia N. Gordon, Ph.D., earned a B.S. in Psychobiology and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California under the guidance of Caleb E. Finch, a Ph.D. studying the neurobiology of aging. Dr. Gordon received postdoctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles in developmental neuroscience with the late Jean De Vellis, Ph.D., where Dr. Gordon developed her interest in glial cells. She then joined the faculty of the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida where she was promoted through the faculty ranks over the next 25 years. Dr.Gordon joined the Department of Translational Neuroscience and College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University as a tenured Global Impact Initiative Professor in 2017. Her research program, funded by nationally competitive federal grants, foundation grants and corporate contracts, is focused on preclinical biomedical laboratory research using mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Gordon is a former recipient of the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association. She is especially interested in the role of innate immunity in neurodegenerative disease, biochemical and cellular changes accompanying aging, and mechanisms of resilience and neuroprotection, with the ultimate goal of developing novel, disease-modifying therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease, including small molecule agents, vaccines, biologics and gene therapy. A major project in the lab at present seeks to understand the role of cellular senescence in development of Alzheimer-like pathology. She is proud to have mentored numerous high school, undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral scholars, and is a diligent proponent for women in the sciences.

• University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy, Full Professor of Neurophysiology, Department of Medicine and Surgery

Marcello D’Amelio, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Neurophysiology at the Department of Medicine and Surgery at University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy. He earned his M.Sc.in Human Clinical Trial at Dept. Experimental Medicine, University “La Sapienza” Rome and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Dept. of Neurology of Tor Vergata University, Rome. He continued his training at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee and at the European Center for Brain Research/Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy. Dr. D’Amelio heads the Molecular Neuroscience Laboratory at University Campus Bio-Medico and at Santa Lucia Foundation with research interests including cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie long-lasting changes of synaptic function in both normal, healthy brains and in the brains of those affected by neurological disorders, in particular Alzheimer's disease. Dr. D’Amelio is Associate Editor for Translational Research in Dementia, Scientific Reports (Neuroscience section) and he has served as a reviewer for numerous international journals and grant agencies. He is supported by the Alzheimer's Association, the Italian Ministry of Health, and the Farmindustria (I) and Fondazione Roma (I). For a full list of Dr. D’Amelio’s scientific publications, visit https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6526-1832.

• Spanish Research Council, Mardrid, Spain, Tenured Senior Scientist

María Llorens-Martín received her Ph.D. from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2009. In 2010, she joined Professor Jesús Ávila’s lab at the Center for Molecular Biology “Severo Ochoa” (CBMSO) as a postdoctoral fellow. During that period, she investigated adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) alterations in the brains of murine models of Alzheimer’s disease. In 2015, she was awarded a “Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral fellowship for foreign researchers” to undertake a postdoctoral research period at the University of Tsukuba, Japan (Dr. Hideaki Soya´s lab). In 2016, she set up her independent laboratory, which focuses on the basic biology and neuroprotective potential of AHN for the treatment of various diseases. In September 2020, she was awarded a tenured researcher position as Científico Titular at the CBMSO. She has received funding from the European Commission ERC Consolidator Grant 2020 (ERC-CoG-2020), the Alzheimer's Association, the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, among others. Some of the studies by her group have been published in journals such as SCIENCE, Nature Medicine, Nature protocols, EMBO J, and Molecular Psychiatry. These works have attracted significant interest from the media (The Scientist, The Scientific American, The Guardian, Le Monde, Il Corriere della sera, El Mundo, El País, La Razón and ABC). Throughout her career, she have obtained several research awards, including CIBERNED Young Investigator Award (2014); “Miguel Catalán” Young Investigator Award (2019); “Young Female Talent Award of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences (2019); and Pfizer Young Investigators Award 2022 (confidential until Oct 25 2022)). She is full member of the Spanish Young Academy (2021-2026), European Academy (since 2022) and AcademiaNet (since 2022). Moreover, she has served as a member of the International Research Council for the Alzheimer's Association since July 2022. She has published 63 manuscripts, which have been cited more than 4900 times, and has an h-index of 37 and an i10-index of 52.

• University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry

Shana D. Stites, Psy.D., M.A., M.S., is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. As a clinical psychologist and researcher with the Penn Project on Precision Medicine for the Brain (P3MB), Dr. Stites’ research focuses on advancing diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease dementia. The goal is to understand ways to promote quality of life and psychological well-being. This includes understanding the impacts of the disease on individuals who may be directly affected by pathology as well as their family members. As part of this work, Dr. Stites has a special focus on better understanding how aspects of identity, such as age, gender and race, operate as determinants in the disease experience. Understanding these features of the disease experience may offer insights into disease-mechanisms and into development of interventions that help limit burdens of the disease. Dr. Stites is a graduate of the National Institute on Aging’s Butler-Williams Scholars Program, has a master’s of arts in sociology from Lehigh University, and earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Chestnut Hill College with a concentration in psychological assessment and special focus on the role of multicultural diversity in clinical practice and representation in research. Dr. Stites’ clinical training includes completion of a doctoral internship at Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia and post-doctoral training in the Penn Memory Center and Department of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.

• University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Toxicology

Walter Swardfager, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the University of Toronto and a scientist in the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program at Sunnybrook Research Institute. He holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in the clinical pharmacology of cognitive neurovascular disorders. Dr. Swardfager’s lab focuses on understanding how disease and dysfunction of the cerebral small vessels contributes to mood symptoms, cognitive decline and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Dr. Swardfager leads a team grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to accelerate the discovery of effective anti-inflammatory strategies to counter cerebral small vessel disease. He is the Principal Investigator of the Sunnybrook Type 2 Diabetes Study, an observational study aimed at understanding the biopsychosocial determinants of cognitive longevity for people living with type 2 diabetes, and the effects of antidiabetic medications on the brain.