Sixteen leaders from around the world join a global fellowship dedicated to advancing brain health equity.
The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) welcomes 16 new Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health.
Representing diverse professions, regions, and perspectives, the fellows bring expertise in medicine, research, public health, policy, the arts, advocacy, and community leadership. Their work ranges from improving dementia diagnosis and care to strengthening community education, shaping policy, and using the arts to expand understanding of aging and brain health.
During the year ahead, fellows will learn with and from one another while developing their leadership, building relationships across disciplines and regions, and exploring new approaches to advancing brain health equity in their communities.
“Strong leadership is essential to improving brain health worldwide,” said Victor Valcour, MD, PhD, Director of GBHI at UCSF[SJ1.1]. “These fellows bring the experience, ideas, and commitment needed to create lasting change.”
Learning and leading at UCSF
The 2026–27 fellowship launches a new global hybrid format at UCSF, designed to make the program more accessible while allowing fellows to remain connected to their work and communities.
The format combines interactive online learning with an individualized period of residence at UCSF, typically ranging from three to 12 months, depending on each fellow’s goals. Fellows will also participate in intensive learning weeks in regions around the world. Led in collaboration with Atlantic Fellow alumni, these gatherings will introduce fellows to new communities, cultures, and health systems while grounding their leadership development in the diverse contexts where change is needed.
Together, these experiences create opportunities for fellows to build strong relationships, deepen international collaboration, and apply what they learn within their own communities.
At UCSF, the fellowship is grounded in the clinical and research excellence of the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center. Fellows learn alongside clinicians, researchers, educators, artists, policymakers, and people with lived experience of dementia, encouraging them to approach complex brain health challenges from multiple perspectives.
Each fellow works with a UCSF faculty mentor and a regional mentor, connecting the fellowship experience with local priorities and opportunities. Fellows also develop proposals for pilot projects that can put ideas from the fellowship into practice.
One global community
The 16 fellows at UCSF join a lifelong global community of more than 330 fellows from more than 70 countries. The wider GBHI community also welcomes 18 new Atlantic Fellows at Trinity College Dublin this year, with each cohort participating in a distinct program while contributing to the global community.
Across this community, fellows draw on backgrounds in medicine, public health, epidemiology, social policy, health economics, biomedical and cognitive sciences, the arts, and advocacy. This breadth reflects GBHI’s belief that complex brain health challenges require collaboration across disciplines.
The opportunities for collaboration created through the fellowship extend well beyond the program year. As alumni, Atlantic Fellows continue to exchange knowledge and contribute to collaborations across disciplines, regions, institutions, and communities. Through these wider networks, they draw on their expertise and local understanding to strengthen research, improve dementia care, influence policy, expand public awareness, and develop culturally relevant approaches to brain health.
As they begin the fellowship, the new UCSF fellows bring their own knowledge and experience to this lifelong community of leaders working together to improve brain health and reduce inequities worldwide.
Explore the leadership journeys of Atlantic Fellows
Learn more about the ideas, experiences, and leadership journeys of Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health program through Brain Bridges, GBHI’s podcast. Each episode features a conversation with an Atlantic Fellow working to improve brain health in communities around the world.
Applications are now open for the 2027–28 Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health program at UCSF.
