By Michelle Jaffee
The McKnight Brain Institute has named three new researchers to its Gator NeuroScholars program, all with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias: Zachary Sorrentino, M.D., Ph.D., Zizhen Liu, Ph.D., and Brittany DeFeis, Ph.D., who will be the MBI’s first Alzheimer’s Research Foundation Gator NeuroScholar.
Gator NeuroScholars is an enhanced postdoctoral fellowship featuring a competitive stipend and opportunities for mentorship by leaders in the field, including program director Gordon Mitchell, Ph.D., an expert in neuroplasticity, the neural control of breathing, and spinal cord injury.
In all, there are now eight active MBI Gator NeuroScholars working in labs across the academic health center.
“We are so excited to welcome our latest group of Gator NeuroScholars. Postdocs are crucial to the success of our research efforts, and this program allows us to recruit and retain some of the field’s brightest up-and-coming investigators,” said MBI Director Jennifer Bizon, Ph.D.
Stay tuned for an announcement later this year introducing additional Gator NeuroScholars in other research areas.
To learn more about Gator NeuroScholars and ways to support educational opportunities at the McKnight Brain Institute, contact Caitie Deranek Stewart at stewartc1@ufl.edu.
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology
Dr. Brittany DeFeis
My drive is looking at metabolic risk factors: How can we change nutrition, aspects of obesity, and Type 2 diabetes in a way that it will impact dementia progression down the line?”
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Dr. Zizhen Liu
I’m fascinated by the learning and memory process. In my Ph.D., we worked a lot on the learning process — how we store our memories and how we integrate our previous memories into current life. That’s the amazing part.
departments of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience
Dr. Zachary Sorrentino
I want to make a difference in the lives of my patients, both through direct clinical work as a neurosurgeon and through research in the lab to provide new treatment avenues for currently incurable neurodegenerative disorders.
