Meet Dr. Hülya Torun, a postdoctoral researcher at the Brain Resilience Lab. "Science generates the accumulation of knowledge so that physicians can use that knowledge to heal people, and I think that was the reason that I wanted to be a neuroscientist." youtube.com/shorts/C_USl...

Get alerts on the latest brain aging news, publications, datasets, and tools by subscribing to our newsletter. The first edition will go out on Dec 17 via email and LinkedIn. Subscribe via email: stanford.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=... Follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/stan...

Meet Theo Guo, a research associate at the Brain Resilience Lab. “One potential impact of this work is that more of humanity will be able to live and enjoy longer lifespans and healthspans, meaning more life spent in a healthy state.” youtube.com/shorts/GM3Wt...

Thanks to all who joined our last monthly seminar of 2025! Cindy Lin gave a talk about "Investigating regulators of GCase activity using CRISPR KO screens," and Odilia Sianto shared her research on "Nonsense-mediated decay masks cryptic splicing events caused by TDP-43 loss."

Interested in neural stem cells and neurogenesis throughout lifespan? Exciting meeting in 2026 in Switzerland!! neuro-unige.ch/news/csf-mee...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia are devastating neurodegenerative diseases. Knight Initiative postdoc Yi Zeng is finding the role a protein plays in both, and whether it can lead to new diagnostics and treatments. Learn more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/qa-key-...

Gummy clumps called amyloid plaques have long been the focus of Alzheimer’s therapies. But some Stanford neuroscientists are focusing on the stringy tangles of a protein called tau, the unsung second hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Learn more: med.stanford.edu/news/insight...

From molecular atlases of aging to emerging ideas about immune pathways, synapses, and glial biology, scientists from Stanford, @ucsfhealth.bsky.social, @ucl.ac.uk, and @alleninstitute.org shared new brain resilience research at our recent symposium. 🔗 brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/mind-bl...

Could brain implants read our thoughts? Not yet. Neuroengineer Erin Kunz builds BCIs to restore speech in people with paralysis. She explains how they decode brain signals—and why imagined thoughts are harder to access than you might think. Listen now: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/could-b...

Scientists and ethicists, including Wu Tsai Neuro affiliates @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and Hank Greely, call for an international process to guide the field of human neural organoids. Read the full @statnews.com story: www.statnews.com/2025/11/06/n...

“We’re making a helmet people can wear that delivers ultrasound to the brain, and we plan to initiate clinical testing of this protocol in the next few months,” said Raag Airan. With Knight Initiative support, they plan to test it on people soon. 🔗 brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/new-ult...

Fantastic talks at yesterday's seminar! Ted Wilson - Unveiling early Alzheimer’s: biomarkers and breakthroughs on the path to brain resilience. Raag Airan - Ultrasonic debris clearance for improving neurofluid flow and decreasing neuroinflammation.

We welcome three Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellows (SIGFs)—Sarah Zou, Nick M, and Pengli Wang! Projects include efforts to decode traumatic brain injury (TBI), map brain-body communication, and find treatments for rare childhood diseases. 🔗 neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/wu-tsai...

“By the time we examine an autopsied brain-tissue sample, a pathologist will have rinsed it with alcohol, removing lipids,” said Knight Initiative director Tony Wyss-Coray, D. H. Chen Professor II and @stanfordneuro.bsky.social professor. “So, we can miss them.” med.stanford.edu/news/insight...

Thank you to our wonderful speakers and everyone who joined us at the Fall 2025 Symposium and Poster Session! It was a day full of insights into the latest research on healthy brain aging, resilience, and various neuroscience studies at Stanford.

Our Fall Symposium is today! We look forward to our poster session and talks by: John W. Day, Soyon Hon @soyonhonglab.bsky.social, Alina Isakova, Andrew C. Yang, Hongkui Seng @hongkuizeng.bsky.social, and Xuchen Zhang.

Six @stanford.edu scientists, including Anne Brunet @brunetlab.bsky.social, have been awarded High-Risk, High-Reward Research program grants from the National Institutes of Health. This will support Brunet's work on the peripheral nervous system, organs & aging. news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

Great talks at our recent seminar! Featuring: Kristy Zera - Blocking the VLA4/VCAM1 axis prevents infarct-induced neurodegeneration by reducing neuroinflammation & promoting vascular integrity Carla Shatz - Convergence of signals for pruning at a synaptic receptor implicated in Alzheimer's Disease

Great news! Our podcast, From Our Neurons to Yours, is a finalist for the Listener’s Choice Award in Science & Education at @signalawards.bsky.social!🎙️ Help us win and vote here by Oct. 9: vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting...

Join us on Oct 9 at a symposium featuring brain resilience and aging research, including a clinical presentation with a patient’s perspective, poster session, and social! Registration required. Stanford affiliates, sign up to present a poster by Oct 2. brainresilience.stanford.edu/events/knigh...

Amyloid beta and inflammation may converge on the LilrB2 receptor, according to new research led by Carla Shatz and supported by a Knight Initiative Catalyst Award. This may help explain synapse loss in Alzheimer’s. Learn more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/buildin...

Our Brain Resilience Seminars are back! Yesterday, Jacob Simon shared his research on "A novel toolset for understanding neuromodulation," and Joe Winer discussed "Effects of ⍺-synuclein pathology in normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease." Thank you to all who joined and participated in the Q&A.

Syed has been a vital part of our Brain Resilience Lab as the Primary Neuroanatomist and @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social’s Primary Brain Dissectionist & Coordinator, supporting research brains and rapid brain autopsies. He’s now beginning his PhD at the University of Washington . Congrats Syed!

Why do some dementia treatments work in mice but not in people? At @stanfordneuro.bsky.social, Vanessa Langness, Danielle Simmons, and Frank Longo reviewed 400+ preclinical studies to identify key differences in timing, study design, and disease stage. brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/why-pro...

Researching the aging brain starts with knowing its structure. Syed Bukhari, Primary Neuroanatomist at the Brain Resilience Lab, led a hands-on anatomy workshop for Stanford researchers—sharing expertise and building connections across the brain resilience community.

In the Brain Resilience Lab, Shon has contributed to flagship projects that map the molecular landscape of brain aging and led collaborations using next-generation sequencing, histology & spatial transcriptomics. He’s now starting his neuroscience PhD at @ucsanfrancisco.bsky.social. Congrats Shon!

Meet Emely Cisneros, a 2025 NeURO-CC Fellow! A Biology major at Foothill College, Emely is exploring how research can inform care for aging populations in the lab of Tony Wyss-Coray under the mentorship of Marvin Reich. Passionate about helping others, she aspires to pursue a career in medicine.

By integrating innovative lysosomal omics and ferroptosis-targeted interventions, Dr. Monther Abu-Remaileh and Dr. Scott Dixon aim to identify strategies to restore lysosomal function, protect against neurodegeneration, and enhance brain resilience. brainresilience.stanford.edu/our-science/...

Celebrate groundbreaking research by nominating a Stanford graduate student or postdoc for the 18th Annual Sammy Kuo Awards in Neuroscience! Submit materials by this Monday, July 28 at 5pm (PT). Learn more and nominate: neuroscience.stanford.edu/programs/com...

Brain organoids are reshaping neuroscience. To scale up their work, Wu Tsai Neuro affiliates @sergiuppasca.bsky.social, Sarah Heilshorn & team found a solution: xanthan gum. This simple solution could accelerate the discovery of brain development & disease. neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/common-...

What makes the brain resilient, and how can research help more people stay cognitively healthy as they age? Highlights include: 🧠 Early biomarkers 🧪 Lysosomal function 💉 Shingles vaccine & reduced dementia risk 📣 Lived experience 📊 72 Stanford posters brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/knight-...

“We’ve developed a blood-based indicator of the age of your organs,” said Tony Wyss-Coray. “With this indicator, we can assess the age of an organ today & predict the odds of your getting a disease associated with that organ 10 years later.” Read more: med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...

How has stroke research evolved, and where is it headed? In today's episode, physician-scientist @marionbuckwalter.bsky.social shares how decades of scientific discovery shaped what we know about stroke and why continued research is key to future progress. neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/how-bas...

Excited to share our review on Hallmark of Stem Cell Aging! With Tom Rando and Peggy Goodell @goodell-lab.bsky.social!! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Why do some older adults remember better than others, even when equally healthy? A new Knight-supported study led by Jintao Sheng & Anthony Wagner shows 2 distinct pathways that shape memory in aging: 🧠Early Alzheimer’s tau 🧠Moment-to-moment attention 🔗 brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/two-roa...

Stanford scientists are uncovering the cellular functions that go awry in degenerative brain disorders and identifying therapies that could treat them in the lab of chemical engineer and Knight Initiative affiliate Monther Abu-Remaileh @abu-remaileh.bsky.social. 🔗 news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

Stanford research by Dr Barres changed our understanding of myelin—once seen as static insulation, now linked to learning & memory. Learn how @michellemonje.bsky.social, @erinmgibson.bsky.social, @bradzuchero.bsky.social & others continue to shape the field: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/underst...

How does the brain map where rewards are found? Stanford researchers Lisa Giocomo and Mari Sosa found that mice form adaptable hippocampal maps that track reward locations, offering insight into how memory, dementia & addiction relate to place and reward. neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/locatio...

Tanya Paull of @utaustin.bsky.social gave a talk on "DNA damage and cerebellar ataxia: roles for transcription stress, PARP, and R-loops in ATM-associated neurodegeneration" in an Aging Research seminar organized by the Knight Initiative and the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research.

What does surgery reveal about brain resilience? Anesthesiologists Martin Angst & Igor Feinstein are studying older adults before, during & after cardiac surgery to explore how stress impacts the brain—why some recover cognitively while others decline. brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/under-l...

At a recent seminar, Hannah Ennerfelt shared a talk on "Peripheral immune drivers of cognitive decline in aging and Alzheimer's disease," and Jintao Sheng discussed "Top-down attention & Alzheimer’s pathology impact cortical selectivity during learning, influencing episodic memory in older adults."

Congratulations to our 2025 Catalyst Momentum awardees! Their projects explore how sleep, inflammation, endocannabinoid metabolism, cellular stress, microglia, and other factors shape brain aging and resilience. Learn more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/fueling...

What does resilient brain aging look like? Stanford neuroscientists Beth Mormino @morminolab.bsky.social & Anthony Wagner share insights from the Stanford Aging & Memory Study, revealing how some people maintain cognitive health well into their 80s & 90s. neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/secrets...

A newly discovered biomarker in spinal fluid—the YWHAG:NPTX2 ratio—may indicate who will develop dementia and how quickly it will progress, according to a @natmed.nature.com study led by Hamilton Oh and senior author Tony Wyss-Coray. Read more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/new-pro...

Thanks to all who joined us at our Year-End Symposium and Research Showcase to learn about promising studies on brain resilience supported by the Knight Initiative. Congratulations to Vanessa Doulames, Lauren Duan, Shuke Xiao, and Shon Alimukhamedov, the 2025 poster session winners!

Our Spring 2025 Symposium & Research Showcase has begun! Knight Initiative Director Tony kicked things off by introducing our speakers and setting the stage for an exciting afternoon focused on brain aging, resilience, and neurodegeneration research. 🧠

Can boosting microglia activity slow Alzheimer’s? Brain Resilience postdoc Shaghayegh Navabpour is developing a promising therapeutic strategy that may be able to do just that by activating the TREM2 pathway. Learn more: brainresilience.stan...

Meet Shaghayegh Navabpour, a 2025 Brain Resilience Postdoctoral Scholar in Laramie Duncan’s lab! She explores how enhancing the activation of microglia, the brain’s immune cells, could strengthen brain resilience and support new Alzheimer’s disease treatments. #Alzheimers #neuroscience #research

Could a common vaccine reduce dementia risk? A new Nature study led by @pascalge.bsky.social and supported by the Knight Initiative links shingles vaccination to a 20% lower dementia rate in older adults — more than any known intervention. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/h...

Can an ion channel protect the optic nerve in glaucoma? 👁️ Brain Resilience postdoc Julian Garcia studies how activating the Piezo1 ion channel influences neuroprotection and axon regeneration. Learn more: brainresilience.stan...