Dr. Cheryl Grady is a distinguished cognitive neuroscientist renowned for her pioneering contributions to understanding age-related changes in brain structure and function. She currently holds the position of Senior Scientist Emerita at the Rotman Research Institute Baycrest Centre and maintains cross appointments as Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Grady completed her graduate training in experimental psychology at Boston University before serving as a research psychologist and Chief of the PET Unit at the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda Maryland from which she relocated to Toronto in 1996. At the Rotman Research Institute she established a groundbreaking research program in neurocognitive aging and served as Assistant Director from 2004 to 2010 while holding a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Neurocognitive Aging. Her leadership and scientific rigor have positioned her as a world authority on the neural mechanisms of cognitive aging.
Dr. Grady's innovative research program has fundamentally transformed our understanding of how brain networks reorganize across the adult lifespan and how these neural changes relate to cognitive performance in aging. She pioneered the application of advanced neuroimaging techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography to investigate the complex relationship between structural brain changes and cognitive function across different age groups. Her rigorous longitudinal studies have identified critical differences in brain network connectivity patterns that underlie cognitive control mechanisms and demonstrated how these neural adaptations support or hinder everyday functioning in older adults. Through sophisticated computational modeling Dr. Grady has developed predictive frameworks that distinguish successful from unsuccessful memory retrieval processes revealing how brain signal variability serves as a key biomarker of cognitive aging.
As a preeminent leader in cognitive neuroscience Dr. Grady has received numerous prestigious honors including the Justine and Yves Sergent Award for Women in Neuroscience the Donald Stuss Award for Research Excellence and election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Her research program has enjoyed sustained support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research culminating in a highly competitive CIHR Foundation Grant awarded in 2015 that continues to advance her investigations into neurocognitive aging. Dr. Grady contributes significantly to the scientific community as an Associate Editor for Human Brain Mapping and through advisory roles for research groups across North America while mentoring the next generation of cognitive neuroscientists. Her current research focuses on identifying brain mechanisms that support successful cognitive aging with the goal of developing targeted interventions that enhance cognitive health and quality of life for older adults through modulation of critical brain networks.
