Chi Udeh-Momoh PhD
Translational Neuroscientist
Dr. Chi Udeh-Momoh is a Translational Neuroscientist with expertise in dementia prediction and prevention, based at Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSM), and affiliated as an Academic Faculty member at Aga Khan University (Kenya), the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (UK), and Karolinska Institute (Sweden).
At WFUSM, she leads the
Udeh-Momoh Lab for Global Brain Health (U-M = BRAIN), focusing on translational research to advance equitable and culturally informed strategies for promoting successful aging by investigating the intersectional relationships of biological, psychosocial, and economic contributors to accelerated brain and cognitive aging across the life course.
In her dual roles as co-Director of the
Imarisha Centre for Brain Health and Aging and Lead of the
Genomics and Biomarker Core at the Brain and Mind Institute (BMI), Kenya, she is building capacity for dementia and brain aging research, education, and care while collaborating with mental health and neuroscience experts, clinicians, and educators at AKU to strengthen neuroscience capacity across regional Global South institutions, including Pakistan. She is also a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health.
In 2018, she initiated the multinational
AFRICA-FINGERS project (as Chief Investigator) across 14 African countries, including Kenya and Nigeria, to promote healthy aging and mitigate brain health and biomarker access inequalities through culturally appropriate, sustainable multimodal intervention strategies. She co-leads the
World-Wide FINGERS Biomarker Consortium and the
Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) workstream guiding implementation of blood-based biomarkers in clinical practice.
Dr. Udeh-Momoh serves on the Executive Committee of the Alzheimer’s Association ISTAART Biofluid Biomarker PIA (2018–present), where she is Founding Chair of the
Saliva Biomarkers for Dementia Research workgroup. She co-founded the
Female Brain and Endocrine Research (FEMBER) consortium and sits on the NIH-funded
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee to determine global research priorities for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (2023–present), as well as the
WHO Guideline Development Group for risk reduction of cognitive impairment and dementia (2024–present). She also serves on the Milken-Institute supported
Program Advisory Council of the Global Brain Care Coalition (2025–present).
Having completed a CASE PhD studentship in Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology at the MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity, University of Bristol (2010–2014), her research elucidates dementia prevention bio-mechanistic pathways across global populations toward equitable biomarker-driven detection and prediction practices. She previously conducted research at Imperial College London, where her work received support from Gates Ventures and industry partners including Janssen, Merck, and Takeda. Her ongoing multimillion-dollar research programs are supported by the NIH, Alzheimer’s Association, DAC, UKRI MRC, UK Defense and Security Accelerator Fund, Wellcome Trust, and Global Brain Health Institute. Dr. Udeh-Momoh also leads several international initiatives addressing gender and racial disparities in medical research and academia, and serves on the
Board of Trustees of the British Society for Neuroendocrinology as Deputy Chair of the Grants Committee and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Lead.
Overall, her work sits at the forefront of translational neuroscience, bridging fundamental discoveries with real-world applications to advance equitable brain health and wellbeing globally.
