Office of Medical Communications

Congratulations to Abbie Chapman Johnson, Ph.D.,  for receiving her first R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the NIH National Institute on Aging.

Dr. Johnson, an assistant professor of neurological sciences, studies how healthy aging and pathologies associated with cerebrovascular disease and dementia disrupt neurovascular function in hippocampus—a brain region involved in learning and memory.
Johnson’s grant, titled “The Role of the Hippocampal Vasculature in Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia,” will investigate how chronic hypertension, age, and sex effect the function of hippocampal arterioles to contribute to cognitive decline. Using a combination of cutting-edge in vivo and in vitro techniques, Johnson will determine the mechanisms contributing to age- and hypertension-induced changes in hippocampal blood flow, neurovascular coupling, neuroplasticity and memory function. The $1.6M grant will fund Johnson’s research program for 5 years—expanding upon current understanding of vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia.