Jennifer Yokoyama, PhD, is a professor in the UCSF Department of Neurology and the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, the Mary Oakley Foundation Endowed Professor in Neurodegeneration, and a member of the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, part of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. Her research program focuses on the genetics of aging and neurodegenerative disease, with the goal of understanding how inherited genetic differences influence brain function, cognition, and behavior in older adults. She is particularly interested in identifying the genetic factors that contribute to resilience or vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases across diverse populations worldwide. Her work aims to support earlier diagnosis and the development of more personalized treatments.
Yokoyama earned her doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacogenomics from UCSF in 2010. Under the mentorship of Steven Hamilton, PhD, in the Department of Psychiatry and the Institute for Human Genetics, she studied the genetic basis of behavior and neurological disease through the Canine Behavioral Genetics Project. Her doctoral research used purebred dogs as models to study neuropsychiatric conditions. She conducted genome-wide analyses to identify genetic regions associated with noise phobia, an anxiety-related condition, and adult-onset deafness in border collies.
Yokoyama is also dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists. In 2020, she received the Alzheimer’s Association Excellence in Neuroscience Mentoring Award in recognition of her commitment to supporting trainees in her laboratory. In 2021, she was named the Mary Oakley Foundation Endowed Professor in Neurodegeneration in recognition of her contributions to advancing research in the field.
Through her research, Yokoyama seeks to better understand how genetic variation across the genome contributes to different forms of neurodegeneration. Her long-term goal is to advance precision medicine approaches that help preserve brain health and improve care for people living with neurodegenerative diseases.