We are pleased to announce the inaugural Vascular and Neuroimmune Contributions to Brain Function Symposium. This event will focus on the evidence for the growing role of vascular and neuroimmune interactions during aging and neurodegeneration, including how these mechanisms lead to cognitive disorders and affect perioperative recovery. The symposium provides a natural forum to present new results, brainstorm, and discuss perspectives from a panel of experts in the field across multiple disciplines such as anesthesiology, neurobiology, bioengineering, and neuroimmunology. The panel discussion aims at highlighting opportunities across disciplines, including investigators from basic science and clinical research, to build community and advance team science to overcome challenges related to brain health and aging. 
 
We look forward to your active participation in making this program a success. 
 
We are grateful to the “Duke Faculty Advancement Seed Grant Program” for supporting this event.

Meet the Keynote Speaker

Costantino Iadecola, MD

Director and Chair of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute
Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology
Weill Cornell Medicine, NY

Costantino Iadecola, MD, is the director and chair of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute and the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine. His research focuses on the basic mechanisms of neurovascular function and on the cellular and molecular alterations underlying ischemic brain injury, neurodegeneration, and other conditions associated with cognitive impairment.

A pioneer in establishing the concept of neurovascular unit, Dr. Iadecola has championed the involvement of neurovascular dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases, and the role of innate immunity and the microbiome in ischemic brain injury. He has published more than 390 papers in peer-reviewed journals and plays a leadership role in research organizations and funding agencies in the United States and abroad. He has been involved as an editor or editorial board member in several journals, including Circulation Research, Stroke, Hypertension, the Journal of Neuroscience, and the Annals of Neurology. Dr. Iadecola has received the McHenry Award from the American Academy of Neurology, two Jacob Javits Awards from the National Institutes of Health, the Willis Award (the highest honor in stroke research bestowed by the American Heart Association (AHA)), the Zenith Fellow Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, the Excellence Award in Hypertension Research (Novartis) from the Hypertension Council of the AHA, and the Chancellor’s Award in Neuroscience from Louisiana State University. In 2015, he was elected to the Association of American Physicians. In 2019, Dr. Iadecola was selected as a Distinguished Scientist by the AHA, and in 2021, he received the Basic Science Prize from the AHA. Clarivate Analytics lists Dr. Iadecola as one of the world’s “Highly Cited Researchers” for ranking in the top one percent of the most-cited authors in the field of neuroscience and behavioral sciences.