Agustín Ibáñez, PhD

Agustín holds various regional/international positions, including director of Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, and Professor in Global Brain Health at GBHI in Trinity College. He is founder and codirector of the ReDLat consortium aimed at fighting dementia collaboratively.

Personal Hero

Nietzsche and his daughters

Words of Strength

Latin American fan, network builder

Vision

To reduce the scale and impact of dementia, we need to develop a common voice based on research and diversity, favoring capacity building and implementation science, empowering local ideas in a global networking landscape, and transforming challenges into opportunities.

Strategy

Agustín is committed to making a significant impact on global brain health. He leads multicentric research that addresses environmental factors, including social and physical exposomes, and their interactions with biological processes in aging and dementia across diverse populations.

Impact

As an Atlantic Fellow, Agustín gained a deeper knowledge of regional networking in dementia research. The Atlantic Fellows program helped him dream big, change lives, and make a huge impact.

Motivation

Latin America and the Majority World are regions of incredible beauty, heterogeneity, and cultural crossbreeding. These areas also face significant challenges in human development and brain health. Combining research, innovation, and capacity building is critical for creating sustainable futures.

Education & Experience

Agustín is a psychologist trained in electrophysiology at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research. He received his PhD in psychology and neuroscience and completed postdoctoral fellowships in neuroscience at the University of Heidelberg and CONICET. He is a full professor at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (Chile), founder and co-director of the Dementia Research Latin American Consortium (ReDLat), and director of the Programme in Global Brain Health Research (IPGBHR) at the GBHI in Trinity College.

University of Heidelberg

Psychology and neuroscience

PhD

University of Heidelberg

Neuroscience

Postdoctoral training

Max Plank Institute for Brain Research

Electrophysiology

Postdoctoral training

Awards & Honors

Agustín has achieved significant recognition in Chile, and globally, for his pioneering work in neuroscience and dementia. His work on neurocognition in neurodegenerative diseases was officially declared of public scientific interest by the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires, which invited him to present his findings at the Palace of the Argentine National Congress. His efforts to disseminate neuroscience knowledge in the region have also been recognized by the Senate of Chile, the Chilean Academy of Sciences, and the Government of Chile.

Expertscape

Dementia

2023

World Expert (top 1% globally)

ALBA Network (FENS, SfN, IBRO)

Diversity, equity and inclusion

2023

ALBA-Elsevier Award Lecture on Brain Sciences

Improbable Research

Communication

2023

Ig Nobel Prize