Women make up two-thirds of all Alzheimer’s disease cases, and we still don’t know exactly why. To help close that gap, the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM) at Cleveland Clinic has awarded its 2026 research grants to three teams of scientists, each tackling the disease from a different angle: the gut, hormones, and muscle.
Here’s a closer look at this year’s award-winning projects and the researchers behind them.
Listening to the Gut for Early Warning Signs
Long before memory problems appear, changes may already be happening in the body, including in the gut. Darlene Floden, PhD, is the recipient of the 2026 MOSH Grant, which is intended for scientists investigating issues of nutrition or gut health and how they affect brain health. Dr. Floden and her team will study stool and blood samples from participants in the Cleveland Clinic Brain Study to look for early biological clues that someone may be at risk for cognitive decline.
By combining information about the gut microbiome with biomarkers found in blood, the researchers hope to build a kind of early-warning system that could eventually help guide dietary or probiotic interventions designed to protect the brain before symptoms ever begin.
“This is a unique opportunity to look at what is happening in the gut-brain axis just before cognitive change starts,” Dr. Floden says. “The hope is to intervene in the disease process before symptoms appear.”
Exploring How Menopause Affects Memory
For many women, menopause brings noticeable changes in memory and thinking. Xiaowei Zhuang, PhD, the recipient of WAM’s 2026 Young Investigator Grant, wants to understand why, and she’s focused on whether a common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s, called APOE4, makes those changes more pronounced.
Using memory-based tasks and brain imaging, Dr. Zhuang will study how hormonal shifts during menopause interact with genetics to affect a key memory region of the brain. The findings could help identify which women face the greatest risk during this stage of life and point toward more personalized prevention strategies.
“Understanding how hormonal changes and genetic risk interact during midlife may be the first step toward earlier, more precise prevention strategies for women during this critical window of brain health,” says Dr. Zhuang.
Building Strength to Protect the Brain
Muscle and brain health are more connected than many people realize. As we age, muscle loss, or sarcopenia, often goes hand-in-hand with cognitive decline. Ruth Farrell, PhD and Lauren Wichman, PhD are the recipients of the 2026 Established Investigator Grant. Working alongside colleagues across Cleveland Clinic and beyond, they will design and test a resistance training program tailored specifically for women 45 and older who are at increased risk for, or in the early stages of, Alzheimer’s disease.
Using a tool that helps patients follow personalized exercise plans, the team will explore what makes a strength-training program realistic and appealing for this group. This important work can lay the groundwork for larger studies on how exercise might help slow cognitive decline.
Looking Ahead
Since 2016, WAM has awarded 54 grants, helping to spark more than $90 million in additional research funding. This year’s projects continue that momentum, exploring the gut, hormones, and muscle as promising new paths toward protecting women’s brain health for generations to come.