Focused on mitigating age-related decline in memory and cognitive functions
The Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) was established in 2004 by a gift from the McKnight Brain Research Foundation to support research in cognitive aging and age related memory loss, excluding Alzheimer’s Disease. The Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at UAB brings together scholars and researchers working in the forefront of basic, translational and clinical neuroscience, with the overarching goals to discover new biological principles in pre-clinical models and to bring them to bear on human cognitive concerns.
BHAM aims to help people improve and maintain their brain health for both the present and for the future, starting young (18+), which is important for preventing cognitive decline and dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson disease.
We're comprised of basic scientists, biostatisticians and clinicians from across UAB
Utilizing state of the art laboratory facilities, brain imaging modalities, and clinical settings, the faculty and students explore the mechanisms that underlie human and nonhuman cognitive neuroscience in an effort to develop new interventions for creating cognitive resilience as we age.
These efforts are comprised of both intra-institutional projects and cross-institutional initiatives involving the three other affiliated centers at the University of Florida, University of Arizona and the University of Miami.
We see collaborative science as key to future discovery
The basic laboratory will need to understand the clinical targets for which mechanisms have to be established, and those working in the clinical setting will need a clearer understanding of mechanisms in order to select biologically-targeted interventions to preserve and to restore declining memory function.
This model of vertical integration will be achieved through funding of innovative pilot grants that pair basic and applied researchers, educational programs that teach students and trainees the strengths of our approach, and the development of brain imaging and other biomarker resources to achieve economy of scale.