LAC-CD

Hope can emerge in the most unexpected circumstances. This past year has been one of the most challenging for me, both scientifically and personally. But ReDLat2 has just been awarded by the @NIH and @NIHAging. Over the next 5 years, the project will bring together 12 sites across Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) and the United States (@UCSFmac) to investigate how environmental × genetic interactions shape aging and dementia, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease and #FTLD. We will examine the role of aggregate and individual-level social exposomes (Aim 1) characterize biological signatures (genetic, epigenetic and plasma markers) across familial and sporadic presentations (Aim 2) and develop computational models of exposome × biological interactions that shape multimodal aging clocks (Aim 3) Deeply honored to lead this initiative together with @durananiotz, @YokoyamaLabUCSF, & @brucemillerucsf. Grateful to the @NIH and @NIHAging, our Program Officer @Maryam84gh, the @ReDLat_Dementia program manager @godoymeugenia and team, the @BrainlatUAI workforce and especially all the site investigators who make this collaboration possible. @lttakada @aslachevskych @AdolfoMGarcia @Elisa_Resende_ @avilafunes @nanosanta @NiltonCustodio8 Many opportunities ahead for postdocs, clinicians, and scientists. Stay tuned.

March 8 | International Women’s Day At @LACCD9 we recognize the women advancing dementia research, clinical care, and professional training across Latin America and the Caribbean. Their work helps strengthen regional responses to dementia.

Proud to announce that @tell_biomarkers is part of Cohort 3 of #RegiónPlateada, driving solutions for a more human and innovative silver economy in Latin America. #RegiónPlateada #Cohorte3_RegionPlateada #ImpactoRegiónPlateada #EconomíaPlateada #EconomíaDelCuidado #Longevidad

Honored to have served as a jury member at the @brainfilmfest 2026 in Barcelona. A truly inspiring experience shared with Avelina Prat, @BeneTagliabue, Elena Molina, Candela Carrera Argibay, @esubira and @crismaragall. All the films we assessed were a powerful reminder that brain health, illness, art and society are deeply connected. Cinema can illuminate the lived experience of neurological conditions in ways science alone cannot. Truly excited to celebrate the winner together at the festival next week in Barcelona: brainfilmfest.com/en/ 🎬🧠

📄NEW PUBLICATION | "Association of apolipoprotein E variants on Alzheimer's disease in Latin America: A systematic review and meta-analysis" in Alzheimer's & Dementia with the participation of some @LACCD9 members. Access the paper here 👉alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/al…

📄NEW PUBLICATION "Plasma ATN biomarkers across the alzheimer’s disease continuum in a Chilean community- and clinic-based cohort" in Alzheimer's Research & Therapy with the participation of some @LACCD9 members. link.springer.com/article/10.118…

Longevity cannot be understood by chronological age. Aging clocks quantify biological age through multimodal integration (neuroimaging, physiology, and environmental exposures), enabling modeling of heterogeneity and accelerated aging, and the identification of intervention windows before decline. This shifts aging from description to prediction, and from late-stage treatment to precision prevention, with important implications for how we build technologies, allocate capital, and design public health strategies. Grateful to Neurofounders & Jemima Lowe for this conversation. neurofounders.co/articles/how-b… @GBHI_Fellows

Thrilled to join this new edition @CreativeBrainWk, at @tcddublin, to discuss collaborative bridges from science to the clinical world. Thanks to Dominic Campbell for the vision and invite! tinyurl.com/5n6st49y

📄NEW PUBLICATION | "Blood-based AT(N) biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration in Latin America" in Nature Aging with the participation of some @LACCD9 members. Access the paper here 👉 doi.org/10.1038/s43587…

📄NEW PUBLICATION | "Randomized controlled trial of resistance exercise and brain aging clocks" in GeroScience with the participation of some @LACCD9 members. Access the paper here 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Arts and culture matter for health—but how do we study their long-term effects on the brain? Join Agustín Ibáñez for the GRACE-EPI Monthly Methods Webinar 📅 Feb 26 | ⏰ 15:00 GMT | Online 🔗 Register: eventbrite.co.uk/e/grace-epi-mo…

Exercise improves brain health, but can it also delay brain aging? In a randomized controlled trial, we show that moderate- and heavy-resistance training significantly reduced accelerated aging in brain clocks (estimated with fMRI). The effect is global and distributed, not confined to single brain hubs. Simple, scalable interventions can meaningfully shape brain clock trajectories in healthy aging. Move the body to slow the brain’s tick-tock. Congrats @rglezgz and the full team: Naiara Demnitz, Carlos Coronel, @TheilGates Michael Kjaer, @HSiebner & Carl-Johan Boraxbekk. #LISA team @GBHI_Fellows Paper: doi.org/10.1007/s11357…

Forward-thinking ideas on the FTD landscape with brilliant colleagues, clinicians, and caregivers. Thanks, @AFTDHope and Holloway Foundation, for creating this unique space. @CNCUdeSA @UdeSA @UsachFAHU @GBHI_Fellows @atlanticfellows @LACCD9 @gerochile @ReDLat_Dementia

🙌Wonderful retreat with @fpmaragall and the @BarcelonaBeta to explore a better future for healthy aging combating dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Thank you @ANavarroFPM for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful family!

📄NEW PUBLICATION | "Impact of cardiometabolic factors and AD plasma biomarkers on white matter hyperintensities volume in individuals with cognitive complaints from the global south" in Neuroscience with the participation of some @LACCD9 members. 👉ibroneuroscience.org/article/S0306-…

First genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease and Frontotemporal dementia in Latin America from @ReDLat_Dementia. Mix of Native, African and European ancestries across countries, + East Asian component in Brazil. Variant curation identified 17 pathogenic variants, one pathogenic C9orf72 expansion, and 44 VUS. Multiple families with autosomal dominant inheritance, including 48 with AD and 22 with FTD. A first large-scale genetic study led by the ReDLat Genetics Team, Juliana Acosta-Uribe, @halsty, @kennethskosik, @YokoyamaLabUCSF. Toward more global dementia genetics. doi.org/10.1038/s44400…

Honored by the invitation to partake in the #2026HollowaySummit, organized by @AFTDHope in Orlando, Florida. A unique opportunity to discuss the role of speech and other digital biomarkers for FTD syndromes amidst leading experts on other key topics. Info: tinyurl.com/5cn48jb4

🌎🧠 CliCBrain is officially launched. An @HorizonEU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action, CliCBrain brings together 23 partners across 16 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America to tackle one of today’s most urgent challenges: how the exposome (climate change, socioeconomic factors, urbanisation, migration) jointly shapes brain health across the life course. Led by @tcddublin and uniting academia, NGOs and SMEs, the project integrates neuroscience, computational epidemiology, environmental science, urban design, social sciences, arts and policy to move from data and exposome science to real-world community action and policy impact. #CliCBrain will generate new evidence, tools and solutions that protect brain health and help societies flourish in a changing environment. 👉 Learn more: cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101… Delighted to led this project with @EoinCotter2 & @godoymeugenia and @GBHI_Fellows

A whole-person, life-course approach to brain health requires insights from neuroscience, lifestyle medicine, geroscience and the social exposome. Here, we place particular emphasis on integrating stress physiology, interoception, emotional resilience, and cognitive and brain reserve. Emerging frameworks (aging clocks, precision biomarkers, digital phenotyping and AI tools) are discussed as tools for risk stratification, early detection and personalized intervention. Congrats @DrLavretsky & team. doi.org/10.1038/s41386…

Thrilled to share: Impact of cardiometabolic factors and AD plasma biomarkers on white matter hyperintensities volume in cognitive complaints in Chile @gerochile @uchile @LACCD9 @TharickAPascoal @TommyKakari @BrainlatUAI @hsalvadorcl @uchile #dementiaprevention #alzheimer