Aging Brain Seminar with Bruce Yankner, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School

• Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
• Time: 4:00pm
• Location: Picower Seminar Room (46-3310, Third Fl of MIT Building 46)
• Host: Li-Huei Tsai
• Reception to Follow

Talk Title: Lithium and the Biology of Aging and Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract: To come

Bio: Bruce A. Yankner, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Genetics and Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research, and Director of the Harvard Neurodegeneration Training Program. Dr. Yankner graduated from Princeton University, received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University, and did a residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. His work has advanced our understanding of the basic science of aging, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Down’s syndrome, and psychiatric disease beginning with the discovery that amyloid proteins are toxic molecules. His laboratory was the first to describe the transcriptome of the aging human brain, its evolution, and a role for DNA damage in gene regulation during aging. The Yankner laboratory has also contributed to our understanding of gene regulatory pathways that modulate aging, stress resistance, memory and Alzheimer’s disease. Recently, the Yankner laboratory discovered that lithium is an endogenous, biologically active element that may be involved in aging and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. He has received the Major Award for Medical Research from the Metropolitan Life Foundation, the Derek Denny-Brown Neurological Scholar Award from the American Neurological Association, the Irving S. Cooper Award from the Mayo Clinic, the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award, the Joseph A. Pignolo Award from the University of Pennsylvania, the Aging Mind Foundation Award, the Nathan W. Shock award from NIA, and the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award and Transformative Research Award.