Jennifer Bizon, PhD, chair of the UF College of Medicine department of neuroscience and an expert in brain aging, has been appointed director of the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida.

“Dr. Bizon is a brilliant researcher and a proven leader within our neuroscience and neuromedicine community,” said David R. Nelson, MD, senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health. “She has played a big role in the growth and expansion of McKnight Brain Institute programs and in facilitating cross-disciplinary research collaborations, and I am thrilled to appoint her as the next director of the MBI.”

Bizon succeeds Todd Golde, MD, PhD, who served as McKnight Brain Institute, or MBI, director from 2016 to 2022 and is currently the director of Emory University’s Center for Neurodegenerative Disease.

Since 2017, Bizon has served in key leadership roles at the MBI as a member of the UF Health Neuroscience and Neuromedicine Executive Committee and as co-chair of the MBI’s Education and Outreach Committee, which has provided new avenues for trainees and faculty members to boost their careers.

“I’m honored to be chosen to lead the MBI, which has been a catalyst for innovative neuroscience and neuromedicine research collaborations across UF’s campus and beyond,” Bizon said. “I look forward to working with everyone in our research community to take the institute’s momentum to even greater heights.”