Goal: To understand neurovascular mechanisms by which cognitive decline occurs during healthy aging that is accelerated during chronic hypertension and cerebrovascular disease, resulting in vascular cognitive impairment and dementia. Some of our research questions include:

• How do sex, age and menopause impact neurovascular aging in the brain?

• What are the cognitive consequences of disease states such as chronic hypertension and cerebrovascular disease?

• If we improve vascular function and blood flow in the hippocampus, can we protect from age- and disease-related memory decline?

• Since older people with cognitive impairment and dementia are more likely to live alone, and less likely to adhere to prescribed medications, can we protect neurocognitive function with more holistic interventions, such as lifestyle enrichment and cognitive stimulation?

• Can we tease apart the roles for neuronal dysfunction and vascular dysfunction in dementia and target each therapeutically to improve cognition?

Goal: To understand neurovascular mechanisms of post-stroke memory impairment and dementia, specifically in the hippocampus that undergoes secondary injury despite being outside of the ischemic brain region. Some of our research questions include:

• Is the blood-brain barrier disrupted in the hippocampus after ischemic stroke resulting in a neuroinflammatory cascade, and does this differ by sex and/or menopause?

• What role does the systemic inflammatory response to ischemic stroke have in post-stroke memory impairment?

• Are there changes in hippocampal perfusion after cerebral ischemic stroke that contribute to secondary injury, including neurodegeneration?

• If we protect the hippocampal vasculature, can we mitigate post-stroke memory decline?