The Aging Brain Initiative Fall 2026 Symposium: Innovation for the Aging Brain

• Date: Friday, September 25, 2026
• Time: 1:00-6:00pm (Talks: 1:00-5:00pm; Poster Session: 5:00-6:00pm)
• Location: Singleton Auditorium (46-3002, Third Fl of MIT Building 46)
• Address: 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
• Faculty Host: Li-Huei Tsai
• Registration: Free but required. Click here to register. | Registration closes on Monday, September 21
• Please note that this event is in-person only.

Join us in person on Friday, September 25th for a half day symposium by the Aging Brain Initiative at MIT, this year titled “Innovation for the Aging Brain”. This year, we bring together MIT faculty whose cutting-edge technologies are fundamentally transforming how we model, measure, and intervene in neurobiology and brain aging. Speakers will showcase innovations spanning molecular imaging platforms that illuminate neural circuit activity; brain-wave dynamics underlying cognition and memory; chemical tools for precisely targeting and modulating aging-associated molecular pathways; bioengineered models of the neuro-muscular junction to study ALS; and the first AI foundation model built to make Alzheimer's preventable. Attendees will gain insight into how engineering, chemistry and neuroscience converge to address critical challenges in age-related neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's prevention.

Program

12:30-1:00pm | Registration & Coffee - Atrium

1:00-1:10pm | Opening Remarks, Li-Huei Tsai, Director, The Aging Brain Initiative 

1:10-1:45pm | Alan Jasanoff, McGovern Institute, MIT Biological Engineering, Molecular MRI probes for studying aging

1:45-2:20pm | Laura Kiessling, MIT Chemistry 

2:20-2:55pm | Oleta Johnson, MIT Chemistry 

2:55-3:15pm | Coffee Break - Atrium

3:15-3:50pm | Arvid Gollwitzer, Broad Institute, Adrian Noriega de la Colina, Giovanni Traverso, MIT Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Precision-Prevention: FINGERPRINT - From Multiomics to Foundation Models and the Biology of Intervention Response 

3:50-4:25pm | Ritu Raman, MIT Mechanical, Engineering Engineering functional neuromuscular tissues for disease modeling and therapeutic discovery

4:25-5:00pm | Earl Miller, The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT, How Anesthesia Makes You Unconsciousness and Why That Matters to an Aging Brain

5:00-5:05pm | Closing Remarks, Rosie Firenze, Scientific Program Director, The Aging Brain Initiative 

5:05-6:00pm | Reception and Poster Session - Atrium

Speakers

• Arvid Gollwitzer, Broad Institute
• Alan Jasanoff, McGovern Institute, MIT Biological Engineering
• Oleta Johnson, MIT Chemistry
• Laura Kiessling, MIT Chemistry
• Earl K. Miller, MIT Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
• Adrian Noriega de la Colina, MIT Mechanical Engineering
• Ritu Raman, MIT Mechanical Engineering

• Giovanni Traverso, MIT Mechanical EngineerinG

About The Aging Brain Initiative

The Aging Brain Initiative is an interdisciplinary research effort that pulls together faculty expertise, knowledge, and technical resources from across MIT to solve the mysteries of the aging brain. It spans neuroscience, fundamental biology and genetics, investigative medicine, engineering and computer science, economics, chemistry, urban planning, and artificial intelligence to enable a comprehensive systems approach. What's the ultimate mission? To deliver the basic research that makes possible new tools to address the challenges of brain aging and create a better future for millions.

Read more here: https://picower.mit.edu/research/aging-brain-initiative