Marilyn Thomas, PhD, MPH, Receives 2025 Irene Perstein Award to Study Link Between HBCU Attendance and Dementia Risk in Black Americans
Marilyn Thomas, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, has received a 2025 Irene Perstein Award in support of her research examining the impact of attending a historically Black college and university (HBCU) versus a predominantly white institution (PWI) on dementia risk in Black American adults.
With support from the Mount Zion Health Fund, the Perstein Award will allow Dr. Thomas to expand her research on how HBCU attendance may influence the risk of incident dementia, vascular dementia, and all-cause mortality. Her study will also explore whether high school proximity to an HBCU affects these outcomes and how public funding disparities between HBCUs and PWIs may shape long-term health. Notably, her project includes the first-ever global crosswalk of cognitive measures across the datasets she is using.
Dr. Thomas’ research is rooted in the unique factors that shape Black lives in the United States – particularly experiences related to racialized policing, racial bias and discrimination, and education. She will investigate how exposure to HBCUs may improve cognitive health by increasing cognitive reserve, reducing exposure to race-related stressors, and providing culturally affirming support to cope with adversity linked to dementia onset and progression.
“Dementia disproportionately impacts Black compared to White adults, and while higher education is known to reduce dementia risk, significant disparities persist—even among college graduates,” Dr. Thomas said. “Little is known about whether, and how, the uniquely Black college experience offered by HBCUs influences cognitive health outcomes.”
In 2023, Dr. Thomas became the first to identify a link between HBCU attendance and cognitive outcomes in a California-based population. With this new study, she will draw from three large, geographically and racially diverse national datasets to explore HBCU-related impacts on cognitive decline and mortality on a broader scale.
"The Irene Perstein Award confirms for me that my department truly values my scholarship and understands its validity – so much so that it is willing to invest in advancing this science at UCSF, even in politically challenging times,” said Dr. Thomas. “To be included in a group supported by the Mount Zion Health Fund, which selects scholars who are leading their respective fields with scientific rigor and academic integrity, is one of the greatest honors an early faculty member like me could receive.”
Established in 2007 through a bequest from Irene Holmes Perstein, the Irene Perstein Award honors exceptional junior women scientists in the UCSF School of Medicine. Two other faculty members – Charlotte Hurabielle Claverie, MD, PhD, and Kayla Karvonen, MD, MAS – are also recipients of the 2025 award.