Tanisha Hill-Jarrett, PhD

Tanisha Hill-Jarrett, PhD, is a neuropsychologist and an assistant professor of neurology at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. Her research applies intersectionality theory to understand how psychosocial stressors and structural racism and sexism impact Black women’s cognitive aging and confer risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). She is additionally interested in improving the measurement and tracking of adverse social exposures (e.g., structural racism and sexism) to better understand how they shape cognitive aging trajectories and association with incident ADRD among Black older adults. As a scientist and clinician, she is committed to making wellness and brain health accessible and participates in the Memory and Aging Center Black/African American Community Outreach Team. Dr. Hill-Jarrett uses Afrofuturism in her community-based work with Black women as a framework to create counternarratives and reimage the future through a lens of hope. She seeks to incorporate Afrofuturism as a tool for brain health among community-dwelling Black elders and a praxis that drives social change and centers aging Black women.