Speaker Profile
PhD, Associate Professor, UCSD
Biography
Dr. Sarah Banks is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and researcher whose focus is on sex differences in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Alzheimer's differs between the sexes in both how it is expressed and in risk factors. Her focus is on finding ways to diagnose AD earlier in men and women, and design precision interventions. A native of London, UK, she went to the University of Edinburgh where she discovered her passion for Neuropsychology. After working in Oxford she migrated to the USA for graduate school at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. She went on to do a predoctoral internship at the University of Chicago, then a postdoctoral fellowship at the Montreal Neurological Institute. She was recruited to develop a clinical and research program at the Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health where she expanded her work on sex differences in Alzheimer's disease. She is now faculty at UC San Diego.
Talk
Tau Pathology and Modifiable Risk in AD: Sex Differences
Men and women differ in pathological aspects of Alzheimer's disease, and also how risk is manifested. These two important sex differences will be pivotal to understand if we are to develop interventions that work in women, who account for 23 of cases of Alzheimer's in the USA.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2024 Silicon Valley
Track Co-Chairs:
Yoel Sadovsky, UPMC
C. Noel Bairey Merz, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
The Women's Health Track with a focus on sex differences aims to explore the latest research in this field and highlight the importance of sex-specific analysis in healthcare. The full-day track includes sessions on enhancing women's health research, general sex differences in large studies, pregnancy (Feto-placental) and sex differences, the biology underlying sex differences, and systems and sex differences. The confirmed speakers are leading experts in their respective fields, including cardiovascular medicine, immunology and virology, metabolic disease, Alzheimer's disease, autism, diabetes, exercise, and hypertension. Through this track, attendees will gain valuable insights into the latest research on sex differences in healthcare and the importance of personalized medicine for women.
- PMWC 2024 Award Ceremony
Pioneer Honoree: David Page, MIT
Luminary Honoree: Janine Austin Clayton, NIH
- Keynote: Enhancing Women's Health Research
- Janine Austin Clayton, NIH
- Keynote: Inclusive Research for Better Health: The FDA's Perspective on Sex Differences in Clinical Trials
- Kaveeta Vasisht, FDA
- Keynote: The Chromosomal Basis of Sex Differences in Health and Disease
- David Page, Whitehead Institute
- General Sex Differences in Large Studies
Chair: Karen Reue, UCLA (Sex Differences in Metabolic Disease)
- Franck Mauvis-Jarvis, Tulane University (Sex Differences in Insulin Resistance) - Feto-placental Sex Differences
Chair: Yoel Sadovsky, University of Pittsburgh
- Nima Aghaeepour, Stanford (AI Taxonomy for Reproductive Health)
- Leslie Myatt, OHSU Oregon (Fetal Sex and Pregnancy Outcomes)
- Systems and Sex Differences
Chair: Marcia Stefanick, Stanford (Sex differences in Cancer)
- Judy Regensteiner, University of Colorado (Sex and Gender: Focus on Diabetes)
- Monica Gandhi, UCSF (Sex Differences in HIV) - Cardiovascular Sex Differences
- Martha Gulati, Cedars Sinai - Sex Differences in Alzheimer's Disease
Chair: Marina Sirota, UCSF (Sex Differences in Alzheimer's Disease Using Clinical, Molecular, and Computational Approaches)
- Sarah Banks, UCSD (Sex Differences in Tau Pathology and AD Modifiable Risk)
- Roberta Brinton, University of Arizona (Illuminating Path to Alzheimer's Cure) - Sex Differences and Cognitive-behavioral Function
Chair: Debra Kaysen, Stanford (Gender Effects on Trauma Exposure, PTSD, and Treatment)
