International Scientific Advisory Board

The International Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) is headed by Ronald Petersen of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and Max Cynader of the University of British Columbia. The board is comprised of international experts in neurodegenerative disease research in order to:

  • Ensure that the research programs and associated projects of the CCNA meet high international standards of scientific excellence
  • Offer advice to the CCNA REC to capitalize on evolving:
    • Research opportunities
    • Technologies
    • Potential research partnerships and/or collaborations
    • Funding opportunities

Dr. David A. Bennett, MD

Director of the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and the Robert C. Borwell Professor of Neurological Sciences, Chicago, IL

Dr. David Bennett is internationally known for his research and is the principal investigator of several studies funded by the National Institute on Aging, including the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center, the Religious Orders Study and the Rush Memory and Aging Project.

Dr. Bennett also leads projects designed to identify novel therapeutics for common neurologic diseases. He also directs the Regional Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Center for Northern Illinois. He serves on numerous national and international advisory and editorial boards. He has more than 650 peer-reviewed manuscript publications, with more than 67,000 citations and an h index = 121.


Dr. Max Cynader, CM, OBC, PhD, FRSC (ISAB Co-Lead)

Director, Brain Research Centre, and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, BC

Dr. Max Cynader is the Founding Director of the Brain Research Centre, and the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health at Vancouver Coastal Health and The University of British Columbia (UBC). He currently holds the Canada Research Chair in Brain Development at UBC and is Professor of Ophthalmology. He is also a Member of the Order of Canada (CM), Member of the Order of British Columbia (OBC), Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada (FRSC), Fellow of The Canadian Academy for Health Sciences (FCAHS), and a Principal Investigator in Canada’s Network of Excellence in Stroke.

Dr. Cynader’s research has focused on the nature of the processing performed by the cerebral cortex, especially the sensory cortices dealing with vision and audition, and on the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying the development and adaptability of the cortex. He has worked to understand the mechanisms by which early use or misuse of the brain affects its functioning for the rest of the organism’s life. He is the author of over 200 articles published in scientific journals, has presented over 350 papers at national and international scientific meetings, and is the holder of several patents. Dr. Cynader has contributed to technology development, and to the commercialization of research results.


Dr. Todd Golde, MD, PhD

Professor of Neuroscience, University of Florida

Dr. Todd Golde, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Florida, where he directs the McKnight Brain Institute and the NIH funded the 1Florida Alzheimer’s disease Research Center. Formerly, he was the founding director of the UF Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease  (2010-2016) and chair of Mayo Clinic’s Department of Neuroscience from 2003-2009.  Dr. Golde has published over 290 peer-reviewed manuscripts, which have been cited over 35,000 times. His scientific honors include Paul Beeson Scholar and Senior Faculty, Alzheimer’s Association Zenith, and MetLife Foundation Awards. He is an active advocate for Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative disease research at the state, national, and international levels.


Dr. Victor W. Henderson, MD, MS

Departments of Health Research and Policy (Epidemiology) and Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Dr. Victor Henderson is Professor in the Departments of Health Research and Policy (Epidemiology) and Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University, where he directs the NIH Stanford Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and co-directs the master degree program in epidemiology and clinical research. His research interests emphasize risk factors for cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease, and therapeutic strategies to maintain and improve cognitive abilities affected by age or dementia.

Professor Henderson obtained his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a master degree in epidemiology from the University of Washington School of Public Health. He trained at Duke University (internal medicine), Washington University (neurology), and Boston University (behavioral neurology). He has been a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a visiting professor at both the University of Melbourne (Australia) and Aarhus University (Denmark), where he is now honorary professor. He has held leadership positions in professional organizations focused on late-life health (chair, Geriatric Neurology section, American Academy of Neurology) and midlife health (president, North American Menopause Society; general secretary, International Menopause Society). He serves on editorial boards and scientific advisory boards, and he has authored more than 200 scientific articles and chapters.


 

Dr. Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD (ISAB Co-Lead)

Professor of Neurology
Cora Kanow Professor of Alzheimer’s Disease Research
Director, Mayo Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN

Dr. Ronald C. Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Neurology, the Cora Kanow Professor in Alzheimer’s Disease Research, and a Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator. He is on the Board of Directors of the national Alzheimer’s Association, is the Chair of the Advisory Council on Research, Care and Services for the National Alzheimer’s Project Act and is on the World Dementia Council. Dr. Petersen is a recipient of the 2004 MetLife Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer’s Disease, the 2005 Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick’s, Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders of the American Academy of Neurology. He has published over 800 peer-reviewed papers and edited five books on aging, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.


Dr. Dorothy Pringle, OC, RN, PhD, FCAHS

Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

Dr. Dorothy Pringle is professor emeritus at the University of Toronto where she was dean of nursing from 1988-1999. Canada. She graduated from McMaster University (BScN), the University of Colorado (MS, Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing) and the University of Illinois (PhD, Gerontological Nursing). She has served on and chaired many research peer review committees including NHRDP, CIHR and the Alzheimer Society. She was the inaugural chair of the Institute Advisory Board of the CIHR Institute of Aging (2001-2007), Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership (2003-2010) and Scientific Lead on the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care initiative, Health Outcomes for Better Information and Care (HOBIC) (1999-2012). Currently she chairs the Board of Directors of the AMS Foundation and the Advisory Council of the Sheela Basrur Centre, Public Health Ontario. Her research and policy contributions focused on the quality of daily life of older people with cognitive impairment living in the community and in long term care homes and on the responsibilities and wellbeing of their family caregivers. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, received the Jeanne Mance Award from the Canadian Nurses Association for outstanding lifetime contributions to nursing and was appointed as an officer of the Order of Canada in 2008.


Dr. Susan M. Resnick, PhD

Chief, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD

Dr. Susan Resnick received her Ph.D. in Differential Psychology and Behavioral Genetics from the University of Minnesota and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Neuropsychology and Neuroimaging at the University of Pennsylvania. She was Research Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania prior to joining the Laboratory of Personality and Cognition (Now the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience), NIA in 1992. She is Chief of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience at the NIA.


Prof. Martin Rossor, MD, FRCP, FMedSci

Professor Emeritus, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute of Neurology
University College London, United Kingdom

Dr. Martin Rossor is Professor of Clinical Neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and established a specialist cognitive disorders clinic which acts as a tertiary referral service for young onset and rare dementias. Clinical research interests are in the degenerative dementias and particularly in familial disease. He was editor of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, and President of the Association of British Neurologists. Dr. Rossor is the NIHR National Director for Dementia Research, Director of the NIHR Queen Square Dementia Biomedical Research Unit and a NIHR Senior Investigator.


Dr. Kristine Yaffe, MD

Roy and Marie Scola Endowed Chair
Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology and Epidemiology,
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
Vice Chair of Research in Psychiatry

Director, Center for Population Brain Health
University of California, San Francisco, CA

Dr. Kristine Yaffe is the Scola Endowed Chair , Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Epidemiology,  Vice Chair of Research in Psychiatry, and Director of the Center for Population Brain Health at the University of California, San Francisco. In her research, clinical work, and mentoring, she has directed her efforts towards improving the care of patients with cognitive disorders and other neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Yaffe is a leading expert in the epidemiology of dementia, cognitive aging, and brain health. Her research bridges neurology, psychiatry, and epidemiology with a primary focus on modifiable risk factors for prevention. She is the principal investigator of more than a dozen grants from the NIH, Department of Defense, and several foundations. Dr. Yaffe served as the Co-Chair of the United States’ Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Cognitive Aging which released a report in 2015 entitled, “Cognitive Aging: Progress in Understanding and Opportunities for Action”, and she is a member of the Beeson Scientific Advisory Board and the California Governor’s Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness Task Force. With over 500 peer-reviewed articles (H-index=134; recognized by Clarivate Analytics as one of the most highly cited researchers in her field), Dr. Yaffe has received several awards for her groundbreaking work, including the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry’s Distinguished Scientist Award and the American Academy of Neurology’s Potamkin Prize for Alzheimer’s Research.

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