Costantino Iadecola, MD

As a clinician-scientist, I have been involved in studying the basic and clinical correlates of cerebrovascular regulation, ischemic brain injury and cognitive impairment since the 1980s. As a Post-Doc with Dr. Donald Reis, I investigated the neurobiological mechanisms controlling the cerebral and systemic circulation, and their role in brain injury. This experience gave me a solid foundation in the neuroanatomical and neurophysiological underpinnings of cerebrovascular regulation. As an NIH-funded investigator at the University of Minnesota, I moved these investigations into the cellular and molecular levels using transgenic mice and molecular approaches. Motivated by my clinical experience in patients with stroke and dementia, I became interested in the mechanisms by which cerebrovascular dysfunction and cerebral ischemia compromise brain function and induce cognitive impairment and interact with neurodegeneration. Upon my return to Cornell in 2001, I further expanded the breadth of my research by collaborating with colleagues encompassing a wide range of expertise, both in basic neuroscience and clinical neurology. Such interactions have led to NIH-funded collaborative projects on the mechanisms by which Alzheimer pathology alters neurovascular and metabolic regulation and interacts with vascular risk factors, including hypertension, aging, and related co-morbidities, leading to cognitive impairment. In 2012, I was named Director and Chair of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, the largest basic science department at Weill Cornell focused on basic and translational neuroscience research. Throughout my career I have been always involved in teaching and mentoring students, residents and junior faculty, at the bench, in the classroom and in the clinic. Several of my mentees are, or have been, supported by grants from the NIH (including K08, K22 and K23 scholar awards), the American Heart Association, or foreign equivalents.