McKnight Clinical Translational Research Scholarship Winners
Meet the scholarsThe McKnight scholars represent the best and brightest early career physician scientists, and their projects have been vetted and selected by the American Academy of Neurology’s Science Committee and three Donor Trustees of the McKnight Brain Research Foundation.
Meet the 2025 Scholars
Giovanna Pilonieta, PhD, DDS
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Project: How Modifiable Health Behaviors Connect to Depression, Anxiety, and Cognitive Function
Research suggests that 40 percent of dementia cases may be attributable to modifiable health behaviors, like blood pressure, weight control, smoking, alcohol consumption, and regular physical activity. In addition to these health behaviors, modifiable health factors such as depression and anxiety contribute to cognitive decline and an increased Alzheimer’s disease risk. Research has also found that depression and anxiety is higher in women compared to men.
Dr. Pilonieta’s study aims to explore the relationship between modifiable health behaviors, mental health, and cognitive function in older adults. She will also examine gender-based differences in these associations.
Deborah Rose, MD
National Institutes of Health
Project: Traumatic childhood events and age-related cognitive decline in marginalized groups
Age-related cognitive decline is a significant public health concern, particularly within racially and ethnically diverse or marginalized populations. Traumatic events during early life known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have emerged as critical drivers of cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration among members of marginalized populations, but it is not fully understood how ACEs contribute to cognitive decline.
One possibility is that chronic stress disrupts how the hypothalamus and pituitary and adrenal glands work together (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, or HPA, axis). This amplifies inflammatory responses and creates a feedback loop that can accelerate age-related cognitive decline.
Dr. Rose will investigate how ACEs are associated with cognitive performance and biomarkers of neurodegeneration, and how this association differs across ethnic and racial groups. She’ll then look at how these ACEs relate to the HPA axis and neuroinflammation.
Certain ACEs are experienced more frequently by marginalized groups in the US, placing them at potentially higher risk for cognitive impairment. Understanding how ACEs impact cognitive performance is crucial for developing interventions to reduce inequitable cognitive decline.
Past Recipients
2024 Recipient
Haopei Yang, PhD
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Project: Investigating age-related memory decline through computational modelling of perceptual changes and preclinical-AD biomarkers
2023 Recipient
Eva Klinman, MD, PhD
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
2023 Recipient
Sheena Baratono, MD, PhD
Beth Israel Deaconess Harvard Medical Center, Boston, MA
Project: Using Atrophy Patterns to Better Understand and Diagnose Visuospatial Dysfunction
2022 Recipient
Michael Kleinman, PhD
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
Sarah Szymkowicz, PhD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Reem Waziry, MBBCh, MPH, PhD
Columbia University, New York, NY
Wai-Ying Wendy Yau, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Brian Baxter, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Sarah Getz, PhD
University of Miami Department of Neurology, Instructor of Neuropsychology
Christian Camargo, MD
University of Miami Department of Neurology, Assistant Professor of Clinical
Sanaz Sedaghat, PhD
Northwestern University, Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology
Kimberly Albert, PhD
Vanderbilt University, Research Instructor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Brice McConnell, MD, PhD
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, Assistant Professor of Neurology