Knight Initiative News

Displaying 1 - 10 news posts of 10

1. News Features Q&A: A key protein may point toward new diagnostics and treatments for ALS and dementia

   Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia are devastating neurodegenerative diseases. Knight Initiative postdoc Yi Zeng is working to understand the role a central protein plays in both diseases—and whether it might point toward new diagnostics and treatments

   Nov 21 2025

   • Brain aging
   • Molecules and cells
   • Discovery science

   

2. Knight Initiative news ‘Mind-blowing’ new perspectives on brain health and disease

   The Knight Initiative’s Fall Symposium featured researchers building new molecular atlases of the brain alongside new updates on neurodegenerative disease and what might be done about it.

   Nov 5 2025

   • Brain resilience
   • Brain aging
   • Circuits and systems

   

3. Stanford Medicine Rethinking Alzheimer's: How these tiny balls of fat factor in

   Research from Knight Initiative Director Tony Wyss-Coray's lab show that an Alzheimer's hallmark—myriad oily droplets in brain cells called microglia—may help connect several of the disorder’s better known but not well understood features.

   Oct 28 2025

   • Brain aging
   • Molecules and cells
   • Discovery science

   

4. Stanford Medicine Rethinking Alzheimer's: Could it begin outside the brain?

   Neurons are built to last, but with age, bad things can happen to them. Wu Tsai Neuro affiliate Katrin Andreasson's work shows a lot of it is triggered by what’s happening to immune cells outside of the brain.

   Oct 21 2025

   • Brain aging
   • Molecules and cells
   • Discovery science

   

5. News Features ‘A celebration’ of the gut and the brain

   Organizers of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute’s 12th annual symposium share exciting new discoveries from the frontiers of the “gut-brain axis.”

   Oct 15 2025

   • Brain function
   • Discovery science
   • Molecules and cells

   

6. Stanford Medicine Rethinking Alzheimer's: Untangling the sticky truth about tau

   Amyloid plaques have long been the focus of Alzheimer’s therapies. But Wu Tsai Neuro's Emmanuel Mignot and others are focusing on the stringy tangles of a protein called tau, the unsung second hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

   Oct 14 2025

   • Brain aging
   • Brain resilience
   • Molecules and cells

   

7. Stanford Medicine Rethinking Alzheimer’s: Why this common gene variant is bad for your brain

   The genetic variant APOE4, carried by one-fifth of the world’s people, substantially boosts Alzheimer’s risk. But scientists have been puzzled about how to reverse that risk: punch up the gene variant’s potency, or smack it down? Now we know, thanks to research funded by the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience.

   Oct 7 2025

   • Brain aging
   • Molecules and cells
   • Brain resilience

   

8. News Features Myelin matters

   A decade ago, three generations of Stanford scientists banded together to publish a landmark study on one of the brain’s most prevalent structures. Today, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute researchers are discovering that myelin is key to just about every aspect of neurological health.

   Jun 20 2025

   • Brain development
   • Molecules and cells
   • Discovery science

   

9. News Features Under the Lights: What Surgery Reveals About Brain Resilience

   A team at Stanford, supported by the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience, is using the biology of recovery to uncover why some aging brains withstand stress while others quietly unravel.

   Jun 4 2025

   • Clinical / translational research
   • Brain aging

   

10. Stanford Magazine Why is a common gene variant bad for your brain?

    The APOE4 genetic variant, carried by about 20% of people, significantly raises Alzheimer’s risk. But should we boost the gene’s potency or suppress it? A recent discovery by Knight Initiative affiliate, Mike Greicius, may provide the answers we need.

    Aug 23 2024