Paula Grammas, Ph.D.

Executive Director, George and Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience; Thomas M. Ryan Professor
of Neuroscience; Professor of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Rhode Island


Dr. Grammas, former executive director of the Garrison Institute on Aging at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and an international leader in the study of Alzheimer’s disease, is the inaugural director of the George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rhode Island. She is also the Thomas M. Ryan Professor of Neuroscience at URI.

Dr. Grammas is best known for her pioneering research into the role that blood vessels and inflammation play in the development of diseases, including Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. A former professor of neurology and holder of the Mildred and Shirley Garrison Chair in Aging at the Texas Tech School of Medicine, she has received numerous awards for her Alzheimer’s research.

She has been the principal investigator or co-investigator on more than $24 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, and other agencies and foundations. She has published 143 peer-reviewed research papers. Dr. Grammas received the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association in recognition of her accomplishments as one of the nation’s leading researchers on Alzheimer’s disease.

Funded Research

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