A recent study published in Innovation in Aging linked participation in arts and cultural activities with slower biological aging.
Preserving Brain Health: Advances in Aging Research and Biotech Webinar Summary
On July 21, the McKnight Brain Research Foundation (MBRF) and American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) co-hosted a webinar bringing webinar together researchers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs to explore how our understanding of brain health and cognitive aging is changing. The discussion highlighted major advances in neuroscience, precision medicine, and artificial intelligence, emphasizing a shared goal of moving beyond treating disease to understanding, protecting, and promoting healthy brain function across the lifespan.
What Is Cognition? A Guide to How the Mind Works
We rely on the mind constantly, but rarely stop to consider how it works. As its demands change, understanding cognition is becoming increasingly important.
Meet 2024 Innovator Award Recipient – Sanaz Sedaghat, PhD, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota
In this interview, Dr. Sedaghat discusses her project to use protein data from a large, long-term study of Black and White adults with the goal of developing “protein-based aging clocks” to measure biological age. With support from the McKnight Brain Research Foundation’s Innovator Award, Dr. Sedaghat is exploring how these clocks relate to different patterns of cognitive decline with the goal of better predicting who might experience faster cognitive aging.
Announcing the 2026 McKnight Brain Research Foundation Clinical Translational Research Scholars
The McKnight Brain Research Foundation recently named Maria Pia Campagna, PhD, University of California, San Francisco and Quentin Devignes, PhD, University of Michigan as the 2026 recipients of the McKnight Clinical Translational Research Scholarship in Cognitive Aging and Age-Related Memory Loss.
MBRF Trustee, Dr. Roy Hamilton, Featured in Men’s Journal – Doctors Say These 9 Practical Lifestyle Changes Reduce Dementia Risk and Protect Brain Health
As McKnight Brain Research Foundation Trustee, Dr. Roy Hamilton, shares in this Men’s Journal article, making healthy lifestyle choices, like exercising regularly, following a healthy diet and managing stress, is currently the best way to protect your cognitive health. Dr. Hamilton specifically suggests the importance of challenging the brain with new activities, controlling cardiovascular risk factors and staying social as a few of the lifestyle strategies that can make the biggest difference for long term brain and cognitive health.
At Home Alzheimer’s Tests are Here: Proceed with Caution
McKnight Brain Research Foundation Trustee, Dr. Sharon Brangman, recently spoke with AARP about the blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease that became available in May and November of 2025 and the at-home tests many companies are now offering. Dr. Brangman, chair of geriatric medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University, emphasized how essential the interaction between patient and physician is for an accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
Announcing the 2025 McKnight Brain Research Foundation Innovator Awards in Cognitive Aging and Memory Loss
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, Duke University and Erin Gibson, PhD, Stanford School of Medicine.
New Research from MBRF Scholar Alum, Dr. Wendy Yau, Shows the Number of Daily Steps May Delay Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer’s Progression
A new study by Dr. Wendy Yau, a former McKnight Clinical Translational Research Scholar, and colleagues found that increasing the number of steps taken daily may slow cognitive decline in older adults with early, biological signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
MBRF Trustee, Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, Elected to the National Academy of Medicine
We’re thrilled to announce Dr. Allison Brashear, MBRF Trustee and Vice President for Health Sciences at the University at Buffalo and Dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Brashear is one of 90 regular members and 10 international members elected to the NAM during its annual meeting earlier in October.