Celebrating Success: New Consortium Member Faculty Appointments and Grants!

We are delighted to share that several members of our consortium have recently achieved major career milestones, including faculty appointments and new research grants. Our consortium thrives because of the talent and dedication of its members, so we are delighted to celebrate these exciting milestones!

Alexandra Vallet:
New Grant awarded from Association France Alzheimer

Alexandra Vallet recently received a 3 year award from the Association France Alzheimer on "What is the role of intracranial pulsatility in small vessel disease?". In this grant she and her team plan to identifying early mechanical markers of damage, aims to support earlier diagnosis, improve monitoring of disease progression, and help design preventive strategies. Ultimately, it will contribute to the development of personalized tools that help people at risk of SVD stay cognitively healthy and independent longer.

Lydiane Hirschler: 
Appointed Assistant Professor at Leiden University Medical College

Under the mentorship of Thijs van Osch, Lydiane has been appointed Assistant Professor at Leiden University Medical College. Her research centers on developing MRI-based tools to visualize human brain clearance and explore how clearance is affected by lifestyle, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases. By integrating fundamental science with physiological and clinical perspectives, the overall aim of her work is to inform strategies for preventing or slowing brain disorders. Underscoring the promise of her research, she has also recently been awarded a four-year grant to drive these aims forward. 

Stephanie Bonnie:
Appointed Assistant Professor at University of Colorado Anschutz

Following her postdoctoral training with Andy Shih, Stephanie has established a lab at the University of Colorado Anschutz. Her research investigates the initiating events of vascular dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases, aiming to understanding how weakened vasculature contributes to cognitive decline and to identify therapeutic targets – a research program supported by an NIH/NIA R00 award. In parallel, her team is exploring 3D ultrastructural datasets from healthy brain tissue to understand how perivascular fibroblasts occupy the perivascular space and interact with macrophages, smooth muscle cells, and astrocytic endfeet.

👏 Congratulations, once again, to Alexandra, Lydiane, and Stephanie! We are delighted to celebrate your accomplishments and wish you continued success in your academic journeys.