History

For more than 20 years, the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center (MAC) has been providing exemplary care for patients and their families, exploring innovative ways to understand and discover treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, and reaching out to the broader community to raise awareness about these diseases of aging.

The UCSF Fein Memory and Aging Center has grown from a single faculty member in 1998 into a major center for dementia care, research, and education. Today, the UCSF Fein Memory and Aging Center employs over 300 talented faculty and staff and enlists the support of more than 40 volunteers. We house 38 faculty members from the fields of neurology, geriatrics, psychiatry, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and nursing, and we have cared for more than 10,000 patients through our clinical and research programs.

1998: Founding

• Bruce Miller, MD, is recruited to UCSF to establish a clinical dementia program within the Department of Neurology.
• Co-founders include Joel Kramer, PsyD; Kristine Yaffe, MD; and Rosalie Gearhart, RN, MSN.
• Dr. Miller is awarded the A.W. & Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professorship in Neurology.

1999: California Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (CADC)

• UCSF is named an Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of California (ARCC), later renamed California Alzheimer’s Disease Center CADC in 2009, with Bruce Miller, MD, as principal investigator and director.
• The center establishes strong linkages between clinical, research, and community programs, offering outstanding diagnostic and treatment services for individuals with dementia and their families.

2000–2001: Expansion of Research

• UCSF establishes collaborations with the NIH and leading institutions to study rare neurodegenerative disorders, such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD).
• The first studies on the relationship between genetics and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are published, highlighting the role of mutations in tau and progranulin genes.

2002: NIH Frontotemporal Dementia Grant

• Dr. Miller becomes the first NIH investigator to receive a program project grant to study frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
• The Hillblom Aging Network is established to research healthy aging and brain changes, led by Joel Kramer, PsyD.

2003: Focus on Caregiver Support

• UCSF launches caregiver support groups and educational programs tailored to families impacted by neurodegenerative diseases, addressing the emotional, practical, and medical challenges of caregiving.

2004: National Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC)

• UCSF is designated as a national Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC), funded by the NIH.
• The program integrates basic science and clinical resources to study Alzheimer’s disease (AD), non-AD dementias, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

2005: First Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Trial

• UCSF conducts the first randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled treatment trial for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in the U.S., led by Michael Geschwind, MD, PhD.

2006: Hosting FTD International Conference

• UCSF hosts the 5th International Conference on Frontotemporal Dementia, bringing together scientists, caregivers, and family members to discuss advancements in FTD research and care.

2007: Memantine FTD Trial

• UCSF conducts the first randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled treatment trial of memantine for frontotemporal dementia.

2008: Bridging Cultures Conference

• UCSF hosts “Bridging Cultures: Improving Evaluation and Treatment of Cognitive Disorders,” a groundbreaking conference to address cultural considerations in dementia care.
• Rosalie Gearhart, RN, MSN, wins the UCSF Chancellor’s Award for the Advancement of Women.

2009: Hellman Family Foundation Program

• The Hellman Family Foundation supports a unique initiative that enriches both science and the community by funding research scientists, fellows, clinic directors, and visiting artists.
• The MAC clinical trials program, under the guidance of Adam Boxer, MD, PhD, implemented the first Phase 2 trials for tau-related therapies for frontotemporal dementia.
• The Bluefield Project established the Bluefield Research Consortium to fund collaborative research toward curing progranulin-based FTD.
• UCSF begins collecting adult skin cells to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for disease modeling.
• Telemedicine services are implemented to provide specialized dementia care to rural areas, led by Cindy Barton, RN, MSN, GNP.

2010: Potamkin Prize

• Dr. Bruce Miller receives the prestigious Potamkin Prize from the American Academy of Neurology for research in Pick’s, Alzheimer’s, and related diseases.
• The Tau Consortium launches to accelerate the development of treatments for tau-related neurodegenerative disorders.
• Howie Rosen, MD, leads a neuroimaging project aimed at developing biomarkers for frontotemporal dementia.

2011: MacArthur Fellowship

• Physician-scientist William Seeley, MD, is awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship for groundbreaking research in neurodegenerative diseases.
• The Fein Memory and Aging Center presents its first UCSF Osher Mini Medical School for the Public series, entitled ‟The Aging Brain,” to packed audiences.
• The Fein Memory and Aging Center building committee meets with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP to help design the new office and clinical research space at the UCSF Mission Bay campus.

2012: Sandler Neuroscience Center Opens

• The innovative Sandler Neuroscience Center is completed, uniting UCSF’s basic and clinical research under one roof.
• Gallery 190 opens within the Memory and Aging Center, showcasing art and fostering creativity among patients and caregivers.

2013: Key Scientific Discoveries

• Adam Boxer, MD, PhD, initiates the first clinical trial to raise progranulin levels for FTD treatment.
• Zac Miller, MD, discovers links between systemic inflammation and TDP43-related FTD.
• William Seeley, MD, reveals predictable patterns of neurodegenerative disease spread across brain networks.
• UCSF creates the first cellular model of tauopathy using adult human stem cells.

2014: Dementia Care Ecosystem

• The Dementia Care Ecosystem is launched, providing personalized care for patients with dementia and their caregivers, led by Katherine Possin, PhD.
• UCSF partners with Quest Diagnostics to develop the Dementia Care Pathway, an electronic decision-support platform, led by Kate Rankin, PhD.
• The NIH funds two huge, multicenter studies, ARTFL (The Advancing Research and Treatment for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration) and LEFFTDS (Longitudinal Evaluation of Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Subjects). These two studies are the largest NIH grants ever for frontotemporal dementia.

2015:Global Brain Health Institute

• The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is founded with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies, aiming to reduce the global impact of dementia through leadership training.
• Nurse Jennifer Merrilees, PhD, establishes the Memory and Aging Center Family Advisory Council to gather input from family caregivers regarding clinical care at the UCSF Fein Memory and Aging Center.

2016: National Academy of Medicine

• Bruce Miller, MD, is elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in health science.
• Gil Rabinovici, MD, launches the IDEAS study to assess the clinical utility of amyloid PET scans in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease.
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded MarkVCID, a consortium of U.S. academic medical centers whose mission is to identify and validate biomarkers for the small vessel diseases of the brain that contribute to vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). The five-year mission is to analyze and optimize candidate VCID biomarkers (years 1–2) and participate in a consortium-wide program of biomarker scaling-up, multi-site protocol implementation, and multi-site validation (years 3–5). Joel Kramer, PsyD, leads the UC San Francisco site.
• The Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. “Sandy” Weill provided a generous gift to establish the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, in an ambitious effort to unite three UCSF departments – Neurology, Psychiatry, and Neurological Surgery – to accelerate the development of new therapies for diseases affecting the brain and nervous system, including psychiatric disorders.

2017: UCSF Dyslexia Center

• UCSF establishes a state-of-the-art Dyslexia Center, led by Marilu Gorno Tempini, MD, PhD, to study dyslexia, primary progressive aphasia, and language development.

2018: Advancing Clinical Trials

• UCSF Memory and Aging Center expands its clinical trials program, testing promising therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, including tau-related therapies and immunotherapies for Alzheimer’s disease.
• Focus grows on precision medicine approaches to dementia care.

2019: Major Dementia Initiatives

• Governor Gavin Newsom forms the Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention and Preparedness, including UCSF faculty members Drs. Howie Rosen and Kristine Yaffe.
• The ALLFTD Study is launched, combining ARTFL and LEFFTDS into a comprehensive study targeting frontotemporal dementia. The project is co-directed by Brad Boeve at the Mayo Clinic and Adam Boxer, MD, PhD, and Howie Rosen, MD, at UCSF MAC, and it includes sites across North America.
• The Longitudinal Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Study (LEADS), a two-year observational study led by Gil Rabinovici, MD, will look at disease progression in 600 adults with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at 20 sites.
• The UCSF Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) was successfully renewed for an additional five years, with an emphasis on predicting specific molecular and physiological causes of dementia, improving early recognition and tracking of transitions from normal aging to dementia, and stimulating drug development and clinical trials.
• The Care Ecosystem is being implemented at six sites across the US, with additional locations to follow.
• The US-South American Initiative for Genetic-Neural-Behavioral Interactions in Human Neurodegenerative Research was awarded $2.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop the first digital platform of shared data on dementia in South America. The data will be compared with that of individuals from the United States seen at the Memory and Aging Center.
• The UCSF-UC Berkeley Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Center is a new $20 million, two-campus multidisciplinary clinical and research alliance aimed at deepening the understanding of dyslexia and other specific neurodevelopmental differences that impact learning. Marilu Gorno Tempini, MD, PhD, serves as the inaugural co-director.
• A new partnership with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music is highlighting the links between the arts and neuroscience.

2020

• The John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation endowed six Memory and Aging Center professors: Lea Grinberg, MD, PhD; Aimee Kao, MD, PhD; Joel Kramer, PsyD; Kate Possin, PhD; Howie Rosen, MD; and Virginia Sturm, PhD.
• Victor Valcour, MD, PhD, was awarded a newly endowed chair devoted to Global Health.
• Marilu Gorno Tempini, MD, PhD, became the inaugural Charles Schwab Endowed Professor in Dyslexia and Neurodevelopment. She also received the Justine and Yves Sergent Award, given by the University of Montreal to a female researcher who has developed an international reputation in the field of cognitive neuroscience.
• Sarah Dulaney, RN, CNS, received the Chancellor Award for Exceptional University Service, an award that recognizes exceptional individual service contributions to UCSF by staff members who demonstrate outstanding dedication to the betterment of UCSF, devoting time as well as energy to serve the university and campus community.
• Rosalie Gearhart, RN, MSN, won the UCSF Holly Smith Award for Exceptional Service to the School of Medicine. This is the school’s most prestigious award, and it recognizes her exceptional service to the School of Medicine.
• Aimee Kao, MD, PhD, was awarded the Derek Denny-Brown Young Neurological Scholar Award, the American Neurological Association’s highest and most prestigious award, which recognizes early- to mid-career neurologists and neuroscientists who have made outstanding basic and clinical scientific advances toward the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of neurological diseases.
• Renaud La Joie, PhD, won the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring for Postdoctoral Scholars. He was also awarded the de Leon Prize in Neuroimaging by the Alzheimer's Association for having published the best paper in any peer-reviewed journal related to the topic of in vivo neuroimaging of a neurodegenerative process.
• Jennifer Yokoyama, PhD, received the Alzheimer’s Association Excellence in Neuroscience Mentoring Award in recognition of her mentorship, advocacy, sponsorship, and guidance of trainees in her laboratory.

2021

• Jennifer Yokoyama, PhD, received the Mary Oakley Foundation Professorship in Neurodegeneration.

2024

• The Hillblom Brain Aging Center was funded. This Center serves as an incubator for innovative digital cognitive monitoring tools, including TabCAT, that are advancing the ways we measure cognition and monitor for disease.

2025: Renaming of the Fein Memory and Aging Center

• The UCSF Memory and Aging Center is renamed the Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, honoring the Fein family’s support.