2018

The Irene Diamond Fund/AFAR Postdoctoral Transition Awards in Aging


Emilie Reas, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, San Diego

Association between Blood-Brain Barrier Braekdown and Brain Microstructure in Mild Cognitive Impairment

In the proposed research, Dr. Emilie Reas will examine whether the blood-brain barrier (BBB) breaks down in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and how BBB permeability changes over the course of AD. The BBB filters toxins and other substances between the blood and the brain and, while there are hints the BBB breaks down with aging and dementia, it is still unclear how and if the damaged BBB causes dementia. This study seeks to identify the BBB breakdown as an early-stage biomarker for age-related cognitive impairment. If they are able to identify this BBB damage as a biomarker for the earliest disease stages, detection of cognitive impairment could occur earlier and treatments could be administered when they would be most effective.

More 2018 Recipients of this Grant

John Collins, PhD

SIRT6 as a novel therapeutic target in aging and osteoarthritis

Bumsoo Ahn, PhD

Unacylated ghrelin as a therapeutic strategy for age-associated skeletal muscle weakness

Jenna Bartley, PhD

The effect of metformin on influenza vaccine responses and T cell function in the elderly

Troy Cross, PhD

The neural origins of exercise intolerance in the aging human: implications for widening the healthspan

Shelli Farhadian, MD, PhD

Neuroinflammation in older adults with HIV: A single cell approach

Amy Gleichman, PhD

Astrocytic regulation of synapse formation and elimination in aged mice after stroke

Claire Gustafson, PhD

T Follicular Helper Cells in Mucosal Immune Aging