Juan Pablo Palavicini, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio


Dr. Juan Pablo Palavicini received his B.S. in Biotechnology Engineering from the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC) and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Puerto Rico. Dr. Palavicini conducted his first postdoctoral research at the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies where he studied the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease; followed by a second postdoctoral appointment at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute where he received a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Diabetes Association to study the link between AD and diabetes through the lens of lipid metabolism and received the Fishman Fund Award.

As a junior faculty at the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Dr. Palavicini is pursuing a career as a translational investigator in the field of aging and age-related diseases, with a particular focus on the importance of lipid metabolism in the context of Alzheimer’s disease and brain aging. Dr. Palavicini recently received a career development award (RL5) from the San Antonio Claude D. Pepper Center, and Junior Faculty grants from the Alzheimer’s Association and American Federation for Aging Research. Dr. Palavicini and his former mentor, Dr. Xianlin Han, are co-leading a CureAlz-funded project that aims to identify and validate new plasma-based lipid biomarkers for early Alzheimer’s disease in the unique, primarily Hispanic, South Texas population.

LinkedIn, Publications, Barshop Institute

Funded Research

These projects were made possible from Cure Alzheimer's Fund support.