Joe Verghese, MD, MS, FRCPI

Professor and Chair of Neurology, 
Renaissance School of Medicine, 
Stony Brook, NY 10461, USA 

Phone: 631-444-2599
Email: joe.verghese@stonybrookmedicine.edu

Administrative Assistant: Katherine Garcia katherine.garcia2@stonybrookmedicine.edu

About

Dr. Joe Verghese graduated from St. Johns Medical College, Bangalore, India. He did his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Neurology in United Kingdom. He completed his Neurology residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY. He did fellowship training in Neurophysiology as well as Aging & Dementia in 1999 at the same institution. He received a Master of Science degree in Clinical Research Methods with Distinction from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2001. Dr Verghese is board-Certified in Neurology.

Dr. Verghese was appointed as Chair and Professor of Neurology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in 2024. He was formerly a tenured Professor of Neurology and Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York (2000 to 2024), and Chief of the Division of Cognitive & Motor Aging in the Department of Neurology as well as the Chief of Geriatrics at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. 

Area of Research

Dr. Verghese’s research interest is the effects of disease and aging on mobility and cognition in older adults, and has been PI on several current and former research grants and clinical trials funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He has over 300 publications in high profile peer-reviewed journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Nature Medicine, and Neurology. He serves on editorial boards of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Journal of Gerontology Medical Sciences, Canadian Geriatrics Journal, Annals of Geriatrics Medicine & Research, and Neurodegenerative Disease Management. Dr. Verghese’s scholarship has been recognized with multiple awards including the Paul Beeson Emerging Leaders award from the National Institute on Aging, the Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation award from the American Geriatric Society, and the Joseph Freeman award from the Gerontological Society of America. His current projects include studying non-pharmacological approaches to reducing risk of dementia and mobility loss, cognitive control of gait and mobility, and global health studies in dementia.

Current (PI)

2011 – 2016, 2019-2024   
Title: Kerala-Einstein Study: Healthy lifestyle, vascular disease, and cognitive decline 
Type: R01AG039330-01 
Role: Principal Investigator (contact), co-PI: PS Mathuranath, VG Pradeep
Agency: National Institute on Aging, Fogarty Institute
Aim: Examine risk factors for cognitive decline in the southern Indian state of Kerala.  

2017-2022, 2022 – 2027
Title: 5-Cog Paradigm to Improve Detection of Cognitive Impairment in Primary Care: Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Type: 1U01NS105565
Role: Principal Investigator (contact). Co-PI: Malaz Boustani, MD (Indiana University)
Agency: NINDS
Aims: Pragmatic cluster randomized trial in 22 primary care clinics in Bronx and Indiana to test the effectiveness of a 5-minute screen (5-Cog) to improve detection of cognitive impairment and improve dementia care. 

2020 – 2025 
Title: The biological underpinnings of Motoric Cognitive Risk syndrome: a multi-center study 
Role: Principal Investigator 
Agency: National Institute on Aging
Aims: To examine biological and brain substrates of Motoric Cognitive Risk syndrome in 8 studies based in six countries.

2020 – 2025 
Title: Non-Invasive Home Neurostimulation for Mild to Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease: Double-Blind, Sham Controlled Randomized Clinical Trial
Role: Principal Investigator (co-PI: H Knotkova, PhD)
Type: R01 AG068167-01 
Agency: National Institute on Aging
Aims: To examine the clinical efficacy and neuroplasticity effects of TDCS in mild to moderately severe Alzheimer’s disease patients.

2023 – 2028
Title: Cognitive decline and dementia in older Kerala Americans
Role: Principal Investigator 
Type: R01 AG068167-01 
Agency: National Institute on Aging
Aims: To examine migration effects on cognition and biology in older Kerala Americans.

 2024-2029
Title: Multi-omics approach to frailty resilience 
Role: Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Sofiya Milman)
Type: 1R01AG088636-01
Agency: National Institute on Aging
Aims: Multi-omic approach to determine protective mechanism against frailty. 

2024-2029
Title: Gait as a Preclinical Marker for Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: insights from super-movers, usual-movers, and slow-movers
Role: Principal Investigator 
Type: 1R01AG089096-01
Agency: National Institute on Aging
Aims: Use team science approach with multi-modal neuroscience and biological methods to examine mechanisms underlying gait and cognitive decline in aging

Current (Co-I)
2020-2025
Title: Trajectories and modifiable risk factors of brain, gait, and cognitive decline in aging and pre-dementia
Role: co-Investigator (PI: H Blumen, PhD)
Agency: National Institute on Aging
Type: R01 AG062659 

2021 – 2026
Title: Visual-somatosensory integration as a novel marker of Alzheimer's disease
Role: Co-investigator (PI: JR Mahoney, PhD)
Type: R01 AG075679-01
Agency: National Institute on Aging

2023-2028
Title: Cortical Underpinnings of Gait and Falls in Aging: A Novel Brain-Body Imaging Approach
Role: Co-investigator (PI: P De Sanctis, PhD)
Type: R01AG082188-01
Agency: National Institute on Aging