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AFAR Grantees in the News: New research co-authored by Turan Aghayev, MD, PhD, and Saul Villeda, PhD, on exercise and the brain in Cell

AFAR Grantees in the News: New research co-authored by Turan Aghayev, MD, PhD, and Saul Villeda, PhD, on exercise and the brain in Cell

On February 18th, 2026, Cell published new research co-authored by AFAR Grantees Turan Aghayev, MD, PhD, and Saul Villeda, PhD, exploring how exercise may protect the brain by strengthening the blood-brain barrier through a liver-produced enzyme called GPLD1.

“This discovery shows just how relevant the body is for understanding how the brain declines with age,” shared Dr. Villeda in a related University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) press release.

Dr. Aghayev is a 2023 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient.

Dr. Villeda is a 2021 McKnight Brain Research Foundation Innovator Awards in Cognitive Aging and Memory Loss recipient.

Read a related University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) press release here.

Read the full paper “Liver exerkine reverses aging- and Alzheimer’s-related memory loss via vasculature” here.

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