Organizing & Scientific Committee

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Ph.D., Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair in Aging, Director, Huffington Center on Aging, Professor, Department of Molecular & Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Zheng obtained her Ph.D. degree from Baylor College of Medicine in 1990. After brief postdoctoral training at Baylor, she joined Merck & Co. where she began her research on Alzheimer’s disease and continued after her return to Baylor in 1999. Dr. Zheng’s expertise in mouse genetics and she is a pioneer in utilizing sophisticated mouse models to probe the biology and pathophysiology of the amyloid precursor protein and presenilins. Dr. Zheng’s current research is focused on the investigation of the autophagy-lysosomal pathway and neuron-immune interaction in AD and related disorders.

Dr. Zheng has published over 100 papers. She is a recipient of the New Scholar Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation and the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association. She served on the Alzheimer’s Association Medical & Scientific Advisory Council from 2011 to 2018. Currently, she is a member of the Tau Consortium Scientific Advisory Board and a co-Chair of the Scientific Review Committee of the BrightFocus Foundation. 

PhD, Chair and Mary Lowell Leary Professor, Department of Neuroscience; Associate Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; Jorge and Leslie Bacardi Associate Director, Center for Regenerative Medicine

Dr. Guojun Bu holds the academic rank of Mary Lowell Leary Professor of Medicine and Professor of Neuroscience. Prior to joining Mayo Clinic in 2010, he was a Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Bu is a world leader in the field of apoE and apoE receptors, which play critical roles in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. His primary interest is to understand why APOE4 is a strong genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and how this pathway can be targeted for therapy by studying animal and stem cell-based cellular and organoid models. His research also includes interests in addressing the pathobiology of TREM2 and its risk variants in microglial functions and pathological development. Dr. Bu has received numerous honors and awards including the Zenith Fellows Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, the Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, the Investigator of the Year award from the Mayo Clinic, and the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer’s disease. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an Associate Editor for Science Advances, and a Co-Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Neurodegeneration.

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Sharyn Rossi is the Director of Scientific Programs, Neuroscience at BrightFocus Foundation. Dr. Rossi came to BrightFocus from the National Institutes on Aging, where she played an integral role on projects related to the impact of aging on the brain. At BrightFocus, she uses her multidisciplinary background in central nervous system injury and mechanisms of aging to implement research initiatives, initiate and maintain institutional collaborations, and foster relationships with scientists and key stakeholders, while overseeing an active portfolio of $41 million consisting of nearly 150 grants spanning 14 countries. Her expertise includes: Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Aging, Neuroanatomy, Neurodegeneration and plasticity, Stem Cell Biology, and Neuroimaging. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Irvine and completed postdoctoral work at A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital and Johns Hopkins University. 

Diane Bovenkamp, PhD, Vice President of Scientific Affairs, is the chief scientist at BrightFocus Foundation, overseeing global operations of the organization’s research programs. She serves as the scientific liaison in local, national, and international forums, and identifies and develops new research initiatives, partnerships, and funding policies consistent with the mission of BrightFocus.

Dr. Bovenkamp obtained her PhD in Biochemistry from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, discovering and studying Eph receptors in angiogenesis and neural development in zebrafish and mice. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, isolating and characterizing zebrafish neuropilins. Dr. Bovenkamp conducted further research at the Johns Hopkins University Bayview Proteomics Center in the Division of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, using proteomic techniques for biomarker detection in human serum.