STEM-Talk Episode 141: Jeff Iliff on newly discovered system that clears waste from the brain
The technical details start at about 16 minutes into the podcast. See the show notes at the link above for additional descriptions of the content.
When asked about APOE4 interactions, Ilif noted that definitive studies of the glymphatic system are hard to do in humans and he didn't know of any APOE specific information.Our guest today is Dr. Jeffery Iliff, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the Department of Neurology at the University of Washington. Much of Jeff’s research focuses on neurodegeneration and traumatic brain injury.
He is the associate director of research at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and a co-leader for research at the University of Washington’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
In this episode, we talk about Jeff’s investigations into the glymphatic system, which is a newly discovered brain-wide network of perivascular spaces that facilitates the clearance of waste products from the brain during sleep. Jeff goes on to describe how he is exploring how the glymphatic system fails in the aging brain as well as in younger brains after traumatic brain injury.
Jeff and Dawn also have a conversation about their collaboration on a research project that’s focused on how extreme stressors impact the glymphatic system. Together they are investigating a potential approach to optimizing glymphatic clearance for individuals with acute or chronic sleep deprivation.