Joel Blanchard is an associate professor of neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York City. He is also an investigator in the Ronald Loeb Alzheimer’s Disease Center and the Black Family Stem Cell Institute. His research aims to understand how genetics, diet and traumatic injury influence susceptibility of the human brain to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease. His multidisciplinary research combines engineering, stem cell biology and neuroscience to create new technology and approaches for investigating and therapeutically targeting the human brain. Dr. Blanchard completed his postdoctoral training at MIT, received a PhD from Scripps Research Institute in California and a master’s degree from Harvard University. Dr. Blanchard’s work has led to several patents and numerous awards including the ISSCR merit award, Glenn Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship and a CIRM predoctoral fellowship.