Dena Dubal, M.D., Ph.D.

Dena B. Dubal is a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and holds an endowed chair in aging and neurodegenerative disease. She received her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and completed a medical internship and neurology residency at UCSF, where she also served as chief resident. She directs a laboratory with a research focus on longevity and brain resilience and has discovered that aging suppressors such as the hormone klotho can boost brain function and counter neurological diseases. Her lab also studies the roles of sex chromosomes in female longevity. Her work integrates the genetic and molecular investigation of human populations with a range of mouse model systems to dissect causative pathways of resilience against aging and age-related diseases. Dubal serves patients at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital at UCSF. Her work has been widely covered in high-visibility media including The New York Times, The Economist and NPR. Among other honors, Dubal received the National Institute on Aging/American Federation for Aging (AFAR) Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award in Aging Research, the Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, the AFAR Junior Faculty Award for Aging Research, the Grass Foundation/American Neurological Association Award in Neuroscience, and the Neuroendocrine Research Award from the American Academy of Neurology.

Projects:

Sex-Specific Differences in Cognitive and Brain Aging

Understanding How Blood-Borne Factors Improve the Function of the Aging Brain