Leah Acker, MD, PhD, of Duke University and Erin Gibson, PhD, of the Stanford School of Medicine receive $750,000 each to lead transformative research in the field of cognitive aging
The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation (MBRF) are pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of The McKnight Brain Research Foundation Innovator Awards in Cognitive Aging and Memory Loss: Leah Acker, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Duke University, and Erin Gibson, PhD, Assistant Professor, the Stanford School of Medicine.
The Innovator Awards provide funding to research scientists pursuing groundbreaking studies in the field of cognitive aging. Each will receive a three-year award totaling $750,000.
Leah Acker, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Neurobiology at Duke University. Dr. Acker’s research project is titled “Inflammatory Hangover and Cognitive Aging.” As a practicing neurosurgical anesthesiologist and scientist, she leads the Anesthesiology, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Engineering Research (ACkER) Lab at Duke Univeristy. The ACkER Lab is rethinking how to protect the aging brain before, during, and after surgery. Her multi-disciplinary team studies how the brain, heart, and immune system communicate to support recovery and long-term brain health. Using wearable sensors, brainwave recordings, and gentle, noninvasive nerve stimulation, they explore how small, repeated bouts of inflammation may quietly accelerate cognitive aging—a phenomenon called “the inflammatory hangover”—and how to prevent it. By translating discoveries in brain–body communication into practical tools, the ACkER Lab aims to help older adults recover from physiological stress more quickly, think more clearly, and maintain independence longer.
Explore more of Dr. Acker’s research at her lab’s website here.
Erin Gibson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (sleep medicine) at the Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Gibson’s research project is titled “NSPR1 as an intersectional regulator of myelin and cognition in aging.” Dr. Gibson’s research focuses on myelin-forming oligodendroglia, the cells that wrap around and insulate the axons connecting neurons, allowing for efficient neural communication within the brain. Specifically, her lab aims to understand how these cells contribute to the regulation of sleep and cognition in aging. Her lab has identified alterations in neuropeptide S signaling, a known regulator of sleep and cognition, in oligodendrocytes with aging. Her McKnight/AFAR-supported research focuses on deciphering the role of neuropeptide S signaling between neurons and oligodendroglia in the regulation of sleep, and how this may change with aging and contribute to aging-associated cognitive decline.
Explore more of Dr. Gibson’s research at her lab’s website here.
Now in its fifth year, the successful grant program has already supported eight investigators in previous years through the collaboration and support of AFAR and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation.
“The McKnight Brain Research Foundation is committed to identifying and rewarding outstanding scientists leading groundbreaking cognitive aging research. Our 2025 Innovator Award recipients, Dr. Acker and Dr. Gibson, have already demonstrated a strong commitment to the field. We are proud to support their efforts to advance our understanding of cognitive aging and hope their findings move us closer to our ultimate goal of helping people maintain their brain and cognitive health across the lifespan.”
Michael L. Dockery, MD, Chair, McKnight Brain Research Foundation
“From the operating room to the sleep lab, these researchers are uncovering how our body’s most fundamental processes—inflammation and sleep—shape cognitive aging. This work will deepen our understanding of when and how the brain becomes vulnerable, giving us clearer targets for protecting cognitive function.”
Alice Luo Clayton, PhD, CEO, McKnight Brain Research Foundation
“Over the past five years, the McKnight Brain Research Foundation Innovator Awards have supported an impressive roster of talent who are making great advances in the field of cognitive aging. AFAR is pleased to continue our partnership with the McKnight Brain Research Foundation and is proud to support these inspiring investigators, continuing our long support of promising research on cognitive health and healthy aging.”
Stephanie Lederman, EdM, Executive Director, AFAR
Learn more about The McKnight Brain Research Foundation Innovator Awards in Cognitive Aging and Memory Loss here.