The Benefits of Early Detection: Why Timing Matters

Charles Windon, MD, is an assistant professor of neurology at the University of California San Francisco Memory and Aging Center. In his current role he participates in the clinical care and management of those with neurodegenerative conditions, conducts research focused on biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) among diverse populations, and leads MAC outreach efforts to the African American community in the San Francisco Bay Area. His research efforts seek to explore the use of novel imaging and blood-based biomarkers for the detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in populations that have been historically excluded from research. He also seeks to understand the intersection between social determinants of health and ethnocultural identity in the context ADRD biomarkers. Through his outreach efforts and volunteer clinical care in community clinics in San Francisco, he seeks to bring education about brain health and better care to communities that are at highest risk for unfavorable disease outcomes related to ADRD.

Dr. Windon’s work has been generously funded through organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institute on Aging. He has previously been awarded the John A. Watson Faculty Scholar Award and named a Dean’s Population Health and Health Equity Scholar as well as a UCSF Multiethnic Health Research Center Emerging Equity Scholar. He is also the inaugural recipient of the Solomon Carter Fuller Award from the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology.

Dr. Windon received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University before obtaining his medical degree from Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. He completed his residency training in neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles and his behavioral neurology fellowship at the University of California San Francisco Memory and Aging Center.