USC Center for Personalized Brain Health (CPBH)
Annual Research Symposium 2026
Advances in Personalized Brain Health
Tuesday, April 14th, 2026, 8:15 AM – 5:00 PM
Zilkha Neurogenetics Institute, Suite 112 – USC Health Sciences Campus
The CPBH research symposium will focus on Drug Discovery, Biomarker Discovery, Imaging Innovation, Modifiable Risk Factors for Brain Health and the role of APOE4.
| Agenda | |
| 8:15 – 8:45 AM | Registration & Breakfast |
| 8:45 – 9:00 AM | Welcome & Introduction Helena Chui, MD Hussein Yassine, MD |
| 9:00 – 10:10 AM Section Lead: 9:05 AM 9:25 AM 9:45 AM 9:55 AM |
Genetic Risk, APOE and Biomarkers Lon S. Schneider, MD Michael Greicius, MD, MPH – APOE Genetics Eileen Crimmins, PhD – Neuroinflammation & Shingles Vaccine Xinhui Wang, MD, PhD – Predictors of APOE4 Dementia Q&A |
| 10:30 – 11:50 AM Section Lead: 10:35 AM 10:45 AM 11:05 AM 11:15 AM 11:25 AM 11:35 AM |
Drug Discovery and Translation Stan Louie, PharmD Lorenzo Refolo, PhD – NIH Drug Discovery Portfolio John Varghese, PhD – UCLA AD Drug Discovery Program Gauri Rao, PharmD, MS – Drug Discovery Quantitative Modeling Shaowei Wang, MD – Drug Targets for AD Neuroinflammation Brian Spencer, PhD – ASOs for Neurodegenerative Diseases Q&A |
| 12:00 – 2:00 PM | Lunch & Poster Presentations |
| 2:00 – 3:30 PM Section Lead: 2:05 PM 2:25 PM 2:45 PM 2:55 PM |
Lifestyle, Imaging and Determinants of Brain Aging Arthur Toga, PhD Judy Pa, PhD – Exercise and brain health Miranda Lim, MD, PhD – Sleep and brain health Neda Jahanshad, PhD – Novel Brain Imaging Q&A |
| 3:30 – 4:40 PM Section Lead: 3:40 PM 4:00 PM 4:10 PM 4:20 PM |
Neuropathology and Neuroinflammation Phyllis Ferrell, DrPH, MBA – Industry Forces Elizabeth Head, PhD – Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Marlon Duro, PhD – PET Imaging Neuroinflammation Oliver Bracko, PhD – Vascular Inflammation & Neurodegeneration Q&A |
| 4:45 – 5:00 PM | Poster Awards & Closing |