Anja LEIST

Prof. Anja Leist is a Full Professor in Public Health and Ageing at the University of Luxembourg's Department of Social Sciences, serving as Vice-head of the Institute for Research on Socio-Economic Inequality (IRSEI) and Special Advisor to the rectorate on Research Assessment. Her work integrates social epidemiology, life course perspectives, and cognitive ageing research, focusing on health inequalities and dementia risk reduction. She leads the ERC-funded CRISP project, advancing dementia risk prediction through novel modeling techniques. Notable achievements include the 2024 Vontobel Prize and a Health and Medical Sociology Excellence Prize. Her research spans Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, with expertise in health politics and advisory roles for funders.

Research interests center on cognitive function, public health policy, and aging populations, with publications in top-tier journals like Alzheimer's and Dementia and Gerontologist. She explores intersections of education, gender, and technology in aging contexts, emphasizing equity in brain health. Recent work addresses pandemic impacts on healthcare access, AI ethics in medicine, and interventions for cognitive decline prevention.

As a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, Leist advises on dementia policy and editorial boards. Her grants include €1.15M from the ERC and FNR support. She collaborates internationally, mentoring early-career researchers through projects like MEDITAGING, which tests mindfulness-based interventions for older adults. Ongoing work examines labor market re-entry effects on cognition and socioeconomic determinants of brain health disparities.