Angela L. Jefferson, PhD
Dr. Angela L. Jefferson is a clinical psychologist with expertise in neuroscience, Professor of Neurology, and Founding Director of the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Designated Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of Excellence at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is also the Founding Director of the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project, a one-of-a-kind longitudinal cohort study examining the complex intersection of vascular health and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Jefferson’s research focuses on understanding vascular contributions to cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and related disorders. She investigates the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of subclinical cardiovascular changes and cerebral small vessel disease, both independent from and in combination with Alzheimer’s disease. She has expertise in multimodal biomarker assessment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, including neuropsychological phenotyping, structural and functional neuroimaging, and cerebrospinal fluid and blood-based biomarkers. She was the first investigator to show that suboptimal reductions in cardiac output relate to lower cerebral blood flow in humans [PubMed] and increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia [PubMed]. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to biomedical science, Dr. Jefferson was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2024.
Dr. Jefferson has a long-standing commitment to professional education and training. She has served as principal investigator for two NIH-funded T32 training programs and primary mentor for numerous NIH K-series career development awards, NIH National Research Service Awards, and Alzheimer’s Association early career awards, as well as a prior Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellowship, the first award of its kind at Vanderbilt University. Her successful track record as a mentor has been recognized by multiple local and national awards, including the Mentor of the Year Award from the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, the Elaine Sanders-Bush Award from Vanderbilt University, an Excellence in Mentoring to Independence Award from Edge for Scholars at Vanderbilt University, and a Midcareer Mentorship Award from the NIH.
Within the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center, Dr. Jefferson has established a highly collaborative, collegial, and productive interdisciplinary team of more than 70 faculty across more than 25 departments at Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee State University, and Belmont University. In 2020, Dr. Jefferson led a significant expansion of the center, resulting in the successful acquisition of an NIH-designated P30 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of Excellence in 2025. These efforts have grown the center’s existing capabilities and positioned the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center as the hub of all Alzheimer’s disease initiatives on campus.
Dr. Jefferson earned her PhD from Drexel University in Philadelphia and completed fellowship training at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University.