Kristina MCLINDEN

Biography

Dr. McLinden oversees the Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) non-pharmacological clinical trials portfolio in the Clinical Interventions and Diagnostics branch at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), which supports exercise, diet, cognitive training, neuromodulation, cognitive behavioral therapies, and multimodal lifestyle interventions to prevent, delay, and treat AD/ADRD. Prior to joining NIA at the end of 2016, she was a program analyst and a program officer at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), where she oversaw their neuroinflammation and training grant portfolios.

Dr. McLinden received her Ph.D. in experimental psychology, with a concentration in behavioral neuroscience from Texas Christian University where she conducted research focused on understanding the effects of neuroinflammation on learning and memory in the aging rodent brain. She went on to receive postdoctoral training as a fellow in the NINDS Intramural Research Program where she researched the role of Cdk5 protein in aging and neurodegeneration.