Salk Institute

05/25/2026

Why does the brain become vulnerable with age?

For Salk scientists Axel Nimmerjahn, Rusty Gage, and Christian Metallo, answering that question required something bigger than a single lab.

With a donor-funded Salk Collaboration Grant, the team combined expertise in imaging, stem cell biology, and metabolism to study microglia—the brain’s immune cells.

Together, they created a first-of-its-kind brain organoid model with microglia, revealing how genetic, environmental, and aging factors converge in Alzheimer’s disease.

That collaboration has already led to a Cell paper—and $4.2 million in follow-up funding.

Because the hardest questions are rarely solved alone.

https://inside.salk.edu/spring-2026/

05/20/2026

What does metabolic health really mean—and why does it matter for your brain? 🧠

In a special Beyond Lab Walls podcast episode for Salk’s 2026 Year of Brain Health, Salk President Gerald Joyce, MD, PhD, talks with Salk scientist Christian Metallo, PhD, about how metabolism shapes brain aging, memory, and cognition—and what researchers are learning about Alzheimer’s disease risk and prevention.

Watch now and learn more: www.salk.edu/brain-health

05/19/2026

A night where San Diego comes together. 🎟️ Tickets now on sale.

Symphony at Salk brings our community to shared tables—an intimate evening of music, connection, and conversation in one of the city’s most iconic settings.

Join us for a night that’s as meaningful as it is memorable. You don’t want to miss the 30th anniversary of Symphony at Salk—where the San Diego Symphony and special guest artists The Bacon Brothers will perform for guests on Salk's iconic campus.

🔗 symphony.salk.edu

05/18/2026

Congratulations to Salk scientist Gerald Shadel on receiving the 2026 Charles L. Hoppel Prize from Case Western Reserve University. 🎉

The award recognizes Shadel’s leadership and groundbreaking contributions to mitochondrial biology, advancing our understanding of how mitochondria influence cell signaling, aging, immunity, and disease. He is also being honored for his dedication to mentoring and inspiring the next generation of scientists.

Shadel will deliver the Charles L. Hoppel Prize Lecture this week at Case Western Reserve University.

05/15/2026

San Diego may not have April Showers... but we do get May flowers.

Credit: Julia Showalter, Wolfgang Busch's lab

05/15/2026

Please join us in welcoming scientist Ian Guldner to the Salk Institute as a new assistant professor advancing foundational research on brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

Guldner studies how brain cells communicate during aging and disease, with a focus on the cellular changes that may drive cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. Earlier this year, he published a first-author study in Nature revealing how aging promotes the accumulation of neuron-derived proteins within microglia, the brain’s immune cells.

His recruitment was made possible by a gift from the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund. Welcome to Salk, Ian!

https://www.salk.edu/news-release/ian-guldner-joins-salk-institute-to-advance-foundational-research-on-brain-aging-and-alzheimers-disease/

05/13/2026

Thank you to Phil Blauer and K**I for interviewing Michelle Chamberlain, Salk’s Vice President of Advancement, and Tom Neuman, President of the Del Mar Foundation, to spotlight the importance of community investment in scientific discovery.

Join both organizations TODAY at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET for the final installment of the Science Can’t Wait webinar series “Turning the Immune System Against Breast Cancer,” featuring Salk scientist Dan Hollern.

FREE REGISTRATION: https://www.salk.edu/science-cant-wait-a-discovery-series-registration/

Through June, donations made during the webinar series will be matched 1:1 through the Del Mar Foundation Challenge Match—doubling your support for groundbreaking discovery!

Watch the full interview here: https://watch.salk.edu/media/t/1_gktnlq0h

Science can't wait--and neither can the breakthroughs that begin with foundational research. The Salk Institute and Del Mar Foundation presents the final installment of the Science Can't Wait webinar series: “Turning the Immune Syste...

05/12/2026

Ask big questions. Get big answers.
At Salk, discovery is a process: observe, test, measure, refine, repeat.

In our 2026 Year of Brain Health, Salk scientists are asking the foundational questions needed to transform how we understand all the factors that determine cognitive resilience across a lifetime—and to lay the groundwork for new strategies to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Learn more: https://www.salk.edu/brain-health

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05/11/2026

Congratulations to Salk President Gerald Joyce on being elected to the American Philosophical Society—the oldest learned society in the United States, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743.

Through its elected membership, the APS advances useful knowledge and the free exchange of ideas across disciplines. Joyce was recognized for pioneering directed evolution, uncovering how some of the earliest biomolecules evolved, and designing the first DNA enzymes—some now being tested in human clinical trials for cancer, asthma, and skin diseases.

https://www.salk.edu/news-release/gerald-joyce-elected-to-american-philosophical-society/

05/08/2026

We are saddened to share that Suzanne Bourgeois, Salk professor emerita, founding member of the Institute, and pioneer in gene regulation research has passed away at the age of 94.

Suzanne helped shape Salk from its earliest days. After training in Brussels and Paris, she moved to La Jolla in 1963 at the request of Jonas Salk, alongside her husband, Melvin “Mel” Cohn, to help build the Institute.

As the founder of Salk’s Regulatory Biology Laboratory, Suzanne was a pioneer in gene regulation research. She studied how cells turn genes “on” and “off” using the bacterial lac operon as a model system, demonstrating that the lac repressor is a protein and, for the first time, characterizing the interaction between a regulatory protein and DNA. Her later work expanded into gene regulation in animal cells and identified compounds that could help reverse multidrug resistance in cancer.

Suzanne’s legacy is woven into Salk’s science, history, and community. She will be deeply missed.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues.

https://www.salk.edu/news-release/salk-institute-mourns-the-loss-of-suzanne-bourgeois-founding-member/

05/06/2026

Get to know Daniel Hollern and his advances in harnessing the immune system to fight breast cancer.

Hollern combines computational biology and cancer immunology to understand how B cells can be used to detect and eliminate tumors—and potentially prevent cancer from returning.

Hear from him during our Science Can’t Wait Webinar Series Part 3: Turning the Immune System Against Breast Cancer.
📅 Wednesday, May 13
🕙 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET
📍 Zoom

Through June, the Del Mar Foundation will match all gifts made during the series 1:1—doubling your impact.

Register to learn more: https://www.salk.edu/science-cant-wait-a-discovery-series-registration/