Faculty Advisors: Juliana Souza-Talarico

Funding: Research Assistantships

Hometown: Amman, Jordan

My research investigates how chronic psychosocial stress — including factors such as social isolation, discrimination, and prolonged life stress — becomes biologically embedded and contributes to accelerated cognitive decline and increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease in middle-aged and older adults. By examining stress biomarkers such as cortisol, inflammation, and allostatic load alongside cognitive and neurodegenerative indicators, my work seeks to clarify the mechanisms linking stress to brain aging and to identify resilience factors that can help protect cognitive health as people age.