Benjamin Sweely is a Neuroimaging Analyst at the Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer’s Center. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 2020. During his Masters, Ben explored computer vision and image processing, which lead to developing non-contact heart rate detection systems and brain computer interfaces.

Ben loves playing sports, with tennis and badminton being his favorites. You can usually find him cooking tacos, reading a book, or watching TED Talks."

Dr. Akiko Shimamoto is a neurochemist and behavioral neuroscientist and Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology at Meharry Medical College. Dr. Shimamoto researches the effects of psychosocial stress and biological sex on neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Her work has a special emphasis in understanding AD disease progression in African Americans and understanding the relationship between cancer and AD. 

Dr. Shimamoto completed her doctoral degree in forensic toxicology and instrumental chemistry at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan and a postdoctoral fellowship in neurochemistry, behavioral neuroscience, and psychopharmacology at Tufts University. She joined the Meharry Medical College faculty in 2014. 

Dr. Christos Constantinidis is a neuroscientist and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Constantinidis’ research interests focus on deep brain stimulation of the cholinergic basal forebrain as a means of improving cognition. His research has direct translational implications for conditions that compromise cognition, including Alzheimer’s disease. 

Dr. Constantinidis completed his doctoral degree in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale School of Medicine. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2021. 

Dr. Sarah M. Szymkowicz is a licensed clinical neuropsychologist and a Research Instructor in Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Szymkowicz conducts adult neuropsychological assessments for a range of psychiatric and neurological conditions with special interests in depression as well as memory and movement disorders. Her research focuses on cognitive and neural mechanisms of emotion processing and neuropsychiatric symptoms in healthy aging and neuropsychiatric conditions. 

Dr. Szymkowicz completed her doctoral degree in clinical and health psychology at the University of Florida and a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2020.

Dr. Danxia Yu is an epidemiologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Yu’s research focuses on nutritional and molecular epidemiology of cardiometabolic diseases, including identification of dietary factors and novel biomarkers related to risk and mortality of chronic diseases among diverse populations. Dr. Yu is interested in discovering diet, lifestyle, and other modifiable risk factors in the etiology and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. 
 
Dr. Yu completed her doctoral degree in nutritional and molecular epidemiology at the Institute for Nutritional Sciences in Shanghai, China, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2016.