Dr. Jeffery Iliff on glymphatic system’s role in health of brains young and old

Published 9.1.22

In the latest episode of STEM-Talk, Dr. Jeffery Iliff talks about his research into neurodegeneration and traumatic brain injury. The episode is available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Iliff is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington as well as the associate director of research at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. He also is a co-leader for research at the University of Washington’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

In the interview, cohosts Dr. Ken Ford and Dr. Dawn Kernagis talk with Iliff about his investigations into the newly discovered glymphatic system, a brain-wide network of perivascular spaces that facilitates the clearance of waste products from the brain during sleep.

Iliff was part of a team at the University of Rochester that discovered the system, which Science Magazine cited as one of the Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2013.

Much of Iliff’s research today explores how the glymphatic system fails in the aging brain — and in younger brains following traumatic brain injury.

Illiff and Kernagis also talk about their collaboration on a research project that’s looking into how extreme stressors impact the glymphatic system. The project’s aim is to investigate a potential approach to optimizing glymphatic clearance for individuals with acute or chronic sleep deprivation.

STEM-Talk is a biweekly podcast that is part of IHMC’s outreach initiatives. IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technologies aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. For more information, visit ihmc.us.