Aging and Neurodegeneration

Faculty

Jeffrey keller Phd

Jeffrey Keller, PhD

Research Focus

The Aging and Neurodegeneration Laboratory focuses on translating research discoveries into practical solutions that improve brain health, safety, and quality of life for older adults. Research priorities include developing scalable tools and interventions that can be deployed in real-world clinical and community settings.

To move discoveries from the laboratory into everyday impact, the lab concentrates its work across three primary research areas:

  • Improving driver health and roadway safety
     Keller’s lab has developed several non-invasive technologies that facilitate the evaluation and improvement of driver health and roadway safety. These technologies employ a wide range of patent-pending components to facilitate the assessment and mitigation of health risk, and risky driving behaviors, known to increase the risk of motor vehicle crash. These ongoing efforts target older adult drivers and young adult drivers with chronic medical conditions known to increase risk for motor vehicle crashes, such as diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, ADHD, depression and cognitive impairment.

  • Improving the delivery of medical and non-medical aspects of care for individuals with cognitive impairment
    Physicians and informal caregivers continuously struggle to deliver comprehensive cognitive care for older adults with suspected cognitive impairment. The lab has recently developed a cutting-edge, patented, AI-powered technology to rapidly identify MCI and dementia in primary care settings. This technology is being paired with additional assessments and support tools to improve the ability of physicians and informal caregivers to care for individuals with cognitive impairment in primary care and community settings.

  • Establishing novel tools and technology to support clinical research in community dwelling individuals
    The lab has recently published validity and feasibility data for the using a novel web-based, remote, and self-guided assessment suite to evaluate community dwelling older adults. Additionally, we have described the feasibility of using this platform to transform the ability to scale longitudinal research efforts in community-dwelling older adults. These efforts will be continually expanded via partnerships with long-term care communities, advocacy groups, and health providers.

About this Lab

The Aging and Neurodegeneration Laboratory combines multidisciplinary expertise in clinical and translational science. Over time, the group has established robust capabilities in clinical trial execution, therapeutic testing, and the development of innovative laboratory models to study neurodegenerative disease. This foundation of experience, infrastructure, and collaboration enables the lab to pursue ambitious research questions and deliver findings that directly inform patient care and prevention strategies.