About

Dr. Dean Sherzai is a behavioral neurologist, scientist, and global health leader whose career spans clinical neurology, epidemiology, implementation science, health-system design, and international development. He is recognized for developing large-scale, evidence-based models that improve brain health, strengthen healthcare systems, and empower communities.

At Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU), Dr. Sherzai serves as Executive Director of Clinical Research, Director of the Community Core of the Clinical & Translational Research Institute, and Professor of Neurology & Neuroscience. His work at CDU centers on community-based clinical trials, cognitive and vascular aging, lifestyle interventions, digital behavior-change tools, and health equity driven research.

A key initiative under his leadership is the INSPIRE Project, housed within CDU’s Community Core. INSPIRE is a lifestyle-intervention program, uniting longitudinal data, culturally grounded health education, precision behavioral modeling, and deep community partnership. It represents a transformational national model for reducing cognitive decline and improving vascular and metabolic health at scale.

Research Interests

Publication

  • Neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, mixed dementias
  • Lifestyle and precision prevention at the community and population level
  • Behavior change, habit formation, and neural mechanisms of resilience
  • Prospective lifestyle-intervention models and implementation science
  • Digital health and AI-driven behavioral support systems
  • Social determinants, health equity, and community-led research
  • Longitudinal and multi-site cohort studies in underserved populations