ADRC Affiliated Researchers

Clinical and community care for the aging.

In my research program, I use human genomics and multi-omics to understand inherited and environmental risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and related quantitative traits, with a focus on improved inclusion of African American and Hispanic/Latino populations in these efforts.

REC Scholar Project: Assessing the Interplay of the Built Environment with Midlife Risk for Dementia

Research focuses on: 1) improving the identification of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo in primary care settings to enable timely access to cost-effective treatment, 2) characterizing the role of vestibular function and rehabilitative strategies in post-concussive/mild traumatic brain injury related dizziness; and 3) identifying and understanding the mechanisms that mediate the association between falls and hearing loss in an effort to develop interventions that will modify falls risk in the hearing impaired population.

Family nurse practitioner specializing in aging well, dementia prevention and care, and dementia caregiver support.

Dr. Roberts is a program evaluator for multiple programs that serve to develop and increase the reach of geriatric education and training of physicians and healthcare professionals, as well as researchers, in the field of aging.

My career research interests are in studying the role that adverse childhood experiences and chronic toxic stress play in the pathogenesis of AD, as well as contribute to the racial disparities seen in this condition.

GPCR structure and function, synthetic neurobiology, and drug discovery

Duke & UNC Clinical Core Leader and Professor of Neurology at UNC

Research interests are the cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to pathogenic immunity in ophthalmic disease and vision loss.

The Scaglione lab is interested in the regulation of protein homeostasis (proteostasis) in neurodegenerative diseases. We use a wide array of model systems including protein biochemistry, the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum , human cell culture, and mouse models to understand cellular pathways that deal with misfolded proteins.

Dr. Megan Shepherd-Banigan designs research studies to improve the health, emotional well-being, and social functioning of adults with mental and physical disabilities. Her methods combine empirical approaches that address methodologically challenging research questions in health systems and policy research. Dr. Shepherd-Banigan uses large survey and administrative datasets to evaluate the impact of policies that support family members to care for adults with disabilities.

In my lab, we use mouse models for infectious and autoimmune diseases to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of; pathogen recognition by PRRs in macrophages and DCs, initiation of inflammatory responses in the innate immune system, and the impact of innate immune inflammation on the development and regulation of T cell-mediated adaptive immune responses.

Member of the Chiba-Falek Lab – Our research attempts to better understand the genetic processes underpinning age-related neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer’s disease, related dementia, and Lewy body spectrum disorders.

Research interests include institutional and community-based long-term care, management of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, medical care of older persons, medical symptoms, and translational research.

My research focuses on cognition among older adults, persons at risk of Alzheimer’s disease and among individuals diagnosed and treated for cancer.

Dr. Smith’s work focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms implicated in chronic human disease using bioinformatics tools.