The brain undergoes natural structural and functional decline in aging. We are fundamentally interested in how genomic variation affects neuroanatomy and behavior, and how the interplay of these factors promotes vulnerability or resistance to neurodegeneration in diverse populations. We take a two-pronged approach for investigating the role of genes in brain health: 1) by elucidating how variation across the genome affects risk for neurodegenerative disease, and 2) by identifying genetic variation that promotes brain and cognitive resilience in aging. Our ultimate goal is to probe the genes we identify as molecular substrates for therapeutic intervention against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia.