The Department of Population Health Sciences (PHS) welcomes Dr. Natascha Merten as an assistant professor. In addition to her primary appointment in PHS, Dr. Merten will have a joint appointment in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology. As a psychologist (MS) and epidemiologist (PhD) by training with research interests in human aging, Dr. Merten’s research program aims to assess aging with a holistic approach through investigating general aging processes that affect multiple domains of brain aging focusing on cognitive and sensory aging. Her NIH NIA R01 entitled: “The Beaver Dam Offspring Study Neurocognitive Aging Study (BOSS-NCAS)-A Study on the Role of Accelerated Aging and Midlife Sensory Decline for Early Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia in Later Life” has just started. The study was funded with ~$2.5M in direct costs. The proposed study will contribute to developing useful methods to identify people at high long-term risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) early in their midlife and to understanding the shared etiologies of sensory and cognitive changes and will inform potential pathways for prevention of ADRD to promote healthy brain aging.