CHICAGO, Aug. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust (KTCT) today announced its seed funding for the launch of the SuperAging Biohub at Northwestern University Mesulam Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease—a "hub-and-spoke" research platform designed to accelerate breakthroughs in understanding and promoting cognitive resilience in aging.

The SuperAging Biohub, led by KTCT Scholar Dr. Tamar Gefen, Associate Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, will unite  multidisciplinary scientists to investigate why some individuals over 80—known as SuperAgers—maintain the memory performance of  those much younger. Leveraging Northwestern's unique collection of more than 110 living SuperAgers and 78 postmortem brain specimens, the Biohub will integrate decades of clinical, genetic, imaging, and neuropathological data into a centralized framework.

"The BioHub at the Mesulam Institute will focus on biospecimens, including brains donated at death graciously by SuperAgers," said Dr. Gefen. "The work at the Institute  will focus on investigating the biological features contributing to the preservation of memory and cognition . The hope is to harness those discoveries  to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease and related dementias."

A Force Multiplier for Brain Science
The Biohub's "hub" will centralize and curate Northwestern's unique longitudinal data and biospecimens, while "spoke" projects will target key scientific questions in genetics, neurobiology, neuroinflammation, lifestyle, and other resilience-related domains.

The first two spoke projects—also funded through KTCT seed support—will be led by KTCT Scholars and collaborators Dr. Julia TCW from Boston University and Dr. Joe Mazzulli from Northwestern University.

Why Now
Neurological diseases are the leading cause of disability and death worldwide, responsible for an estimated 443 million years of healthy life lost in 2021 and costing the U.S. economy $800 billion annually. Despite advances in understanding disease mechanisms,  why some individuals stay cognitively resilient is still unknown.

"By focusing on resilience, we open the door to prevention in a way that traditional approaches have not," said Rebecca Bartoli, Executive Director of the Karen Toffler Charitable Trust. "This Biohub embodies the spirit of innovation and collaboration that KTCT exists to champion."

An Invitation to Collaborate
The SuperAging Biohub will launch an inaugural SuperAging Research Conference at Northwestern in the fall of 2026 to convene collaborators, share data, and inspire new research partnerships.

The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust's support marks the first step in building a global network of partners to unlock brain resilience.

To learn more about the the Karen Toffler Charitable Trust visit https://tofflertrust.org

To learn more about the Mesulam Institute visit https://www.brain.northwestern.edu/index.html

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SOURCE The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust