Dr. Adam Brickman Named 2025 Recipient of The Department of Neurology Leadership Award
The Department of Neurology is proud to announce that Adam M. Brickman, PhD, Professor of Neuropsychology in the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience has been named the 2025 recipient of The Department of Neurology Leadership Award. Established in 2020 in honor of Dr. Richard Mayeux, Chair of Neurology and a distinguished clinician-investigator, this annual award recognizes a faculty member who has made an exceptional contribution to the department’s clinical, research, or educational mission.
An internationally recognized leader in Alzheimer’s disease research, Dr. Brickman has helped reshape how the field understands the role of vascular factors in dementia. “Dr. Brickman’s primary area of research has crucially elucidated the contribution of cerebrovascular disease in the pathogenesis and course of Alzheimer’s disease, in community, clinical, and genetic populations at risk for AD, including adults with Down syndrome,” explains a member of the nominating committee.
His research integrates neuroimaging, biofluid biomarkers, and neuropsychological assessment to uncover how vascular and inflammatory processes influence brain aging and neurodegeneration. His lab has developed advanced methods for quantifying white matter hyperintensities and has analyzed more than 40,000 MRI scans. He has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2004.
Dr. Brickman holds several key leadership roles in Columbia’s neuroscience community. He serves as Associate Director of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, and Co-Director of the Columbia University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, where he also leads the Biomarker/Neuroimaging Core. He is also a member of the Admissions Committee for Columbia’s Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, helping shape the next generation of neuroscientists. At the national level, he serves as an ad hoc member of the NIH’s Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute on Aging (NIA).
His work also extends globally. This past year, Dr. Brickman secured a multi-site award from the National Institute on Aging to lead a neuroimaging study in South Africa, which “leverages mobile MRI technology to generate cutting-edge neuroimaging data in settings where such data have been scarce,” as noted by a nominator. “This effort not only elevates global neuroscience but also provides a model for studying rural and underserved communities in the United States.”
Dr. Brickman is deeply committed to mentoring future scientists. He co-directs Columbia’s NIH-sponsored Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (AD RCMAR), and co-led the STAR U program, which offered immersive summer training in aging research for undergraduates from underrepresented backgrounds. In his own words, Dr. Brickman views “mentorship not only as an ethical obligation of being a faculty member in a university setting, but also as something I immensely enjoy, in which I take great pride, and to which I dedicate tremendous effort.”
Beyond his research and mentorship, Dr. Brickman serves as Chair of the Department’s Committee on Appointments and Promotions, where he has helped streamline and strengthen the faculty promotion process. “He has transformed the operations of the Committee such that the Committee deliberations have become a crucial contributor to the academic advancement of neurology faculty members,” writes a nominating colleague. “Undoubtedly this has led to much success in these promotion efforts.”
For his extraordinary contributions to research, mentorship, academic leadership, and global collaboration, the Columbia Neurology community proudly celebrates Dr. Brickman and congratulates him on this well-deserved honor.