Monica Santisteban, PhD

Contributions of hypertension to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease 

Cardiovascular risk factors are now recognized as important contributors not only to vascular dementia but also to Alzheimer’s disease. Indeed, there is a strong association between mid-life hypertension and late-life dementia. My lab seeks to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the detrimental effects of hypertension on cognition and brain health by using preclinical models to answer these questions. We have previously identified novel role of neuroimmune activation in the dura contributing to the impairment of cerebral blood flow regulation and cognitive function in hypertension. This talk will focus on the alterations happening at the brain borders (choroid plexus, perivascular spaces, blood-brain barrier, and meninges) during hypertension, and how these may interact VCID and typical Alzheimer’s disease pathology. 

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Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN