Gillian Coughlan, M.Sc. Ph.D.

My early passion for aging, and in particular pathological forms of aging, lead me to a PhD at the University of Norwich Medical School (UK) during which time I also held a visiting researcher, affiliation position, at the University of Cambridge (UK). Leveraging innovative digital technology, I discovered personalized cognitive markers for at-genetic-risk Alzheimer disease (AD) in my doctoral studies. Building on the foundational research I conducted during my PhD, where I focused on the APOE4 genotype and cognitive markers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), I expanded my research to include multi-modal neuroimaging in my postdoctoral training. This transition allowed me to apply cutting-edge imaging techniques to further investigate AD pathology. Before departing Canada where I conducted my first postdoctoral fellowship, I received a competitive two-year fellowship from the Alzheimer Society of Canada. I carried this fellowship to Harvard Medical School/Mass General Hospital (MGH), under the mentorship of Dr. Rachel Buckley. In 2024, I was awarded the highly competitive NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Grant and an Alzheimer's Association Research Fellowship, which directly supported my promotion to Instructor at Harvard Medical School/MGH in January 2025. Alzheimer’s Disease disproportionally affects women and my research projects at MGH focus on elucidating personalized risk factors associated with change in Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers. One of my key contributions to the field has been identifying how menopausal hormone therapy impacts regional tau accumulation, a finding that has the potential to reshape clinical approaches to Alzheimer’s Disease prevention in postmenopausal individuals. My current work focuses on multi-cohort studies and adopts meta-analytic approaches to help answer our various research questions. I welcome doctoral fellowships applications.