Neuroscience Doctoral Researcher Earns Prestigious American Heart Association Fellowship

Graduate student Sarah Otu-Boakye, a Ph.D. candidate in the neuroscience program, has been awarded a prestigious Predoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association (AHA) in recognition of her promising research focused on the biological drivers of age-related cognitive decline. The fellowship supports emerging scientists whose work has the potential to advance understanding and prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Otu-Boakye’s research examines how dysregulation in lipid metabolism affects brain endothelial cells—the specialized cells that line the blood vessels of the brain—and contributes to vascular cognitive impairment, a condition linked to aging and diminished brain function. Her funded project investigates how lipid accumulation within these cells can trigger metabolic reprogramming and cellular senescence, processes that can impair the brain’s microvascular system and ultimately contribute to cognitive decline.

Through this work, Otu-Boakye aims to better understand how endothelial cell dysfunction develops with age and how these changes influence the health of the brain’s vascular network. By uncovering the mechanisms that connect lipid metabolism, vascular health, and cognition, her research seeks to identify new therapeutic targets that could help preserve brain health and reduce the risk of age-associated cognitive impairment.

In addition to providing essential research funding, the AHA Predoctoral Fellowship offers advanced training opportunities in vascular biology and access to mentorship from leading experts in the field. The experience will support Otu-Boakye’s continued development as an emerging scientist dedicated to advancing research at the intersection of cardiovascular health and brain aging.