Dr. E. Wesley Ely is a critical care pulmonologist and a Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Ely cares for patients with critical illness in the intensive care unit. His research interests focus on the psychological, cognitive, and functional consequences of delirium and its intersection with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.  

Dr. Ely completed a master of public health degree at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and medical school at Tulane University School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency, a pulmonary and critical care fellowship, and a geriatric neuropsychology fellowship at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. Ely also completed a lung transplantation fellowship at Washington University. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1998. 

Dr. Donald J. Alcendor is a molecular virologist and an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Meharry Medical College. Dr. Alcendor’s research interests focus on cytomegalovirus (CMV) trafficking of the central nervous system with a focus on the blood-brain and retinal barriers. He is also interested in the regulation of amyloid beta proteins in the brain parenchyma and their role in Alzheimer’s disease pathology.  

Dr. Alcendor completed his doctoral degree in molecular virology at University of California at Davis, a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular virology at the National Institutes of Health, and a postdoctoral fellowship in viral oncology at Johns Hopkins University. He joined the Meharry Medical College faculty in 2005.

Dr. Alyssa H. Hasty is a pathologist and the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Hasty’s research interests focus on the role of macrophages in obesity and cardiometabolic disease. She is interested in the contribution of microglial cells to the iron excess observed in Alzheimer’s disease.  

Dr. Hasty completed her doctoral degree in pathology at Vanderbilt University and postdoctoral fellowships at Tokyo University and Vanderbilt University. She joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2001. 

Dr. Jason A. MacGurn is a biochemist and an Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University. Dr. MacGurn’s research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms that regulate the composition of proteins at the plasma membrane. In particular, he is investigating how the restoration of protein degradation capacity can reverse cellular pathologies associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. MacGurn is a member of the training faculty for the Vanderbilt Interdisciplinary Training Program in Alzheimer’s Disease (T32). 

Dr. MacGurn completed his doctoral degree in biochemistry and biophysics at University of California, San Francisco and a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2013. 

Dr. Michelle Houston is a Principal Population/Public Health Manager at the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center. In this role, she oversees all clinical research data collection operations. Dr. Houston earned a PhD in adult development and aging from the University of Akron in 2023 where she also earned a master's degree in 2018 and bachelor's degree in psychology in 2016.

While at the University of Akron, Dr. Houston conducted research exploring age differences in cognitive function, specifically related to creativity, memory, and attention. She also worked with the Conquer Chiari Research Center, exploring neuropsychological and neuroimaging correlates of cerebellar disorders.

In her free time, Dr. Houston enjoys hiking the beautiful trails around Tennessee and exploring the food scene around Nashville!

Dr. Craig W. Lindsley is a chemist and a Professor of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Lindsley’s research interests focus on developing small molecules to validate novel targets and mechanisms in in vivo animal models, and he studies the development of allosteric modulators of G protein-coupled receptors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Lindsley is an investigator in the Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. 

Dr. Lindsley completed his doctoral degree in chemistry at University of California, Santa Barbara and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2006.  

Dr. Howard S. Kirshner is a board-certified behavioral and vascular neurologist and a Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Kirshner has clinical expertise in the intersection of vascular pathology and Alzheimer’s disease and sees patients in the Stroke Division and Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology Division of the Department of Neurology. Dr. Kirshner is an investigator in the Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.  

Dr. Kirshner completed medical school at Harvard Medical School and a neurology residency and clinical fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1978.