MBI leadership transition

photo of todd golde in a white coat
Dr. Todd Golde

A message from UF Health President Dr. David Nelson

Dear Colleagues,

Todd Golde, M.D., Ph.D., has served as executive director of the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute for over five years, a time of exponential growth for UF’s neuroscience and neuromedicine research community. After 12 years in all at UF, Dr. Golde will take on a new leadership role at Emory University as director of the Emory Center for Neurodegenerative Disease and a professor of pharmacology and chemical biology and neurology, beginning Aug. 1.

Under Dr. Golde’s leadership, the McKnight Brain Institute expanded to include nearly 200 members of UF scientists and physician-investigators and facilitated cross-disciplinary collaborations across campus to reveal new understanding of the brain. Over the past six years, NIH funding for neuroscience and neuromedicine research at UF has more than doubled, to exceed $80 million in 2021. And during Dr. Golde’s tenure, the MBI also expanded its education and outreach efforts, providing trainees and faculty with multiple new avenues to boost their careers.

In addition, as founding director of UF’s Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, Dr. Golde launched an innovative, multidisciplinary research center focused on the discovery, development and evaluation of future treatments and diagnostics for degenerative central nervous system conditions.

During his time at UF, he also served as director of the 1Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, a UF-led consortium of five Florida institutions involving over 30 faculty members, and in 2020 helped secure a five-year, $15 million NIH grant to continue its work with a heightened focus on further understanding dementias in diverse populations.

An international expert in the scientific understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Golde has published over 300 papers that have been cited over 44,000 times. His research into Alzheimer’s disease helped lay the foundation for the amyloid hypothesis, and he has made major contributions to the understanding of amyloid and tau pathologies as well as the immune system’s role in the disease.

As we begin our search for a new MBI executive director, the institute will be guided in the interim by the UF Health Neuroscience and Neuromedicine Research Executive Committee, which includes Steven DeKosky, M.D., and Jada Lewis, Ph.D., deputy directors of the MBI, and Kevin McNaught, Ph.D., chief science officer for neuroscience research at UF Health.

Please join me in thanking Dr. Golde for his vision, leadership and research efforts over the past 12 years and wishing him well as he begins his new role at Emory.

David R. Nelson, M.D.
Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, UF &
President, UF Health