Funded Research Projects
| Catalyst Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Ivan Soltesz
This team aims to discover whether the brain’s endocannabinoid system is dysregulated during aging, triggering inflammation via molecules called prostaglandins. If so, a drug that decouples these systems might restore a youthful brain state and rescue cognitive function.
| Catalyst Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Thomas Sudhof
This team will explore the idea that neurotoxic protein aggregates seen in neurodegenerative disorders act at the synaptic connections between cells, and that resilience against these disorders may come from natural synapse-supporting factors that could be transformed into new forms of therapy.
| Catalyst Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Julie Kauer
This team plans to study whether changes in neurons in the midbrain that regulate sleep, wakefulness, and immunity could contribute to aging and neurodegeneration. If successful, this information could rescue deficits in sleep and restore a normal immune profile.
| Catalyst Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Kang Shen
This team aims to define a network of genes that contribute to stress resistance in neurons and identify how it could be activated to enhance brain resilience and protect against neurodegenerative disease.
| Catalyst Grants
This team will study the brains of individuals who lived past ninety with their cognitive function intact, using advanced tissue imaging and computer science to understand mechanisms of resilience that could slow neurodegeneration and preserve brain health.
| Catalyst Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Melanie Hayden Gephart
This team aims to be the first to study the cellular and molecular impact of traumatic brain injury by studying genetic material in human cerebrospinal fluid. This will help clinicians and researchers ID markers of brain resilience after injury, and ultimately improve treatment for severe TBI.
| Innovation Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Chris Garcia
Inflammation is a hallmark of brain aging, yet the source of inflammation in the old brain — and how to eliminate it — is unknown. This team aims to provide insight on how inflammation affects the aging brain that could potentially lead to the generation of new therapies to promote brain resilience.
| Innovation Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Jonathan Z. Long
Exercise improves cognition and protects against age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, but further research is needed to understand exactly how this occurs. This project aims to pave the way for therapeutics that can capture the benefits of exercise for promoting brain resilience.
| Catalyst Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Michelle Odden
This team proposes the first comprehensive study of how mitochondrial DNA is related to cognitive function and susceptibility to dementia in a diverse population of over 11,000 adults. The outcomes of this study will provide insight into possible racial disparities in brain health.
| Innovation Grants
Lead Researcher(s): Siddhartha Jaiswal
This project aims to identify how mutant peripheral immune cells that invade the brain might actually reduce Alzheimer’s disease risk. The research will explore how to mimic these cells’ resilience-promoting effects to design new Alzheimer’s therapies.
