Our Director

Dr. Thomas Mosley, Robbie and Dudley Hughes Distinguished MIND Center Chair, is a professor in geriatric medicine and director of the MIND Center at UMMC. He has an extensive background in clinical neuropsychology, behavioral neurology, and population-based studies in neuroepidemiology. Dr. Mosley's research efforts have been largely devoted to uncovering how and why the brain changes with age.

He is the principal investigator for several NIH-funded studies including the large multi-site Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Neurocognitive Study. Dr. Mosley's research contributions have been acknowledged by several awards. In 2010, he received the Bud Orgel Award for Distinguished Achievement in Research by the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers from the American Psychological Association, and was named as a Guyton Distinguished Professor at UMMC.

Dr. Mosley's work has led to discoveries about the brain that show that cognitive decline begins much earlier than previously thought, an insight that could translate into earlier detection and treatment for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

His latest work promises to push the frontiers of science and medicine. By bringing together state-of-the-art brain imaging and powerful new genetic technologies, Dr. Mosley and his collaborators seek to illuminate the causes of cognitive decline and dementia. Uncovering the causes and risk factors for Alzheimer's and related dementias will lead to improved treatments and possibly even prevention of cognitive decline with age.

Key discoveries

• Brain changes, such as atrophy, vascular disease and silent strokes, are surprisingly common, even in healthy, middle-aged people.
• The cause of these abnormalities may be associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors.
• Early brain changes are not benign, as once believed, but in fact begin to erode cognitive abilities starting as early as middle age.