Rachel Whitmer, Ph.D.
Chief, Division of Epidemiology
Director, Population Brain Health Lab
Co-director, UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center
Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences and Department of Neurology
Specialties
Alzheimer's Disease
Epidemiology
Neurology
Gerontology
Population Health
Neuroscience
Clinical Research
Department
Locations and Contact
UC Davis Medical Center
UC Davis Medical Center
2315 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817
Phone: 800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284)
Research/Academic Interests
Rachel Whitmer is a tenured Professor of Public Health Sciences and Neurology, Chief of the Division of Epidemiology at the University of California Davis (UC Davis) School of Medicine and Co-Director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center which has a mission of a lifetime of brain health for all. Dr. Whitmer is Director of the Population Brain Health Lab (https://rachelwhitmer.ucdavis.edu) using lifecouse epidemiological and clinical translational methods to reduce inequities in brain aging; through study of dementia incidence, cognitive aging, and brain pathology in diverse racial/ethnic groups, those with diabetes, and the oldest-old. Prof. Whitmer is Principal Investigator of several National Institutes of Health funded cohort studies of dementia, cardiovascular health, and cognitive aging, recruiting and following over 5000 research participants, as well as US POINTER, a lifestyle multi-domain behavioral intervention clinical trial. Prior to joining UC Davis, Dr. Whitmer was a Senior Scientist and Director of the Population Cognitive Aging Lab at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research for 18 years where still holds an adjunct appointment. In her work leveraging electronic medical records for prediction models, she created the first 10-year diabetes-specific risk score for dementia, validated the CAIDE dementia risk score, and was among the first to identify midlife obesity/overweight, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and hypertension as long-term risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia.
Division
Epidemiology
Undergraduate School
B.S. (Magna Cum Laude), Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 1995
Other School
Ph.D., Epidemiology of Apoe4, HRT and Cognitive Aging in Latinas, UC Davis, Davis CA 2000
Fellowship
Cardiovascular Epidemiology, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley, Berkeley CA 2000-2002
Dean's Research Award, UC Davis School of Medicine, 2025,
Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM®), Drexel University, 2020,
Target of Excellence, UC Davis School of Medicine, 2018,
Access Dr. Whitmer's PubMed profile here.
Colbeth HL, Posis AIB, Rizvi BM, Decarli CS, Glymour MM, George KM, Corrada MM, Gilsanz P, Whitmer RA. Neurology. Role of APOE ɛ4 and ɛ2 With Longitudinal Cognitive Decline Among Those With Exceptional Longevity: The LifeAfter90 Study. 2026 Nov 10;107(9):e218596. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000218596. Epub 2026 Oct 16. PMID: 42886871
Rizvi B, Maillard P, Posis AIB, Colbeth HL, Chen NX, Brickman AM, Gilsanz P, Corrada MM, Whitmer RA. Beyond amyloid: Contributions of neuroinflammation, cerebrovascular disease, and neurodegeneration to memory impairment in the oldest-old, the LifeAfter90 Study. Alzheimers Dement. 2026 Aug;22(8):e71795. doi: 10.1002/alz.71795. PMID: 42630088
Colbeth HL, Corrada MM, Mungas D, Gilsanz P, George KM, Gaied R, Kawas CH, DeCarli C, Whitmer RA. Incidence of dementia after age 90 years and association with APOE genotype, race, and sex in the USA: the LifeAfter90 prospective cohort study. Lancet Healthy Longev. 2026 Jul;7(7):100882. doi: 10.1016/j.lanhl.2026.100882. Epub 2026 Aug 4.
PMID: 42551464
Dugger BN, Luu MN, Patel V, DeCarli C, Jin LW, Gilsanz P, Mungas D, Kawas C, Corrada MM, Whitmer RA. Neuropathology in a diverse cohort of oldest-old: The LifeAfter90 study.
Alzheimers Dement. 2026 Jul;22(7):e71634. doi: 10.1002/alz.71634. PMID: 42499153
Maillard P, Vemuri P, Harvey DJ, Harrison TM, Reddy AL, Oh H, Salloway S, Mahinrad S, Holland TM, Whitmer R, Espeland MA, Baker LD, Landau SM, DeCarli C. Age, Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention, and White Matter Integrity: Secondary Analysis of the POINTER Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Jul 1;9(7):e2620353. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.20353. PMID: 42438415
Chen R, Posis AIB, Pederson AM, Wang J, Hirst AK, Rojas-Saunero LP, Kim YJ, Haneuse S, Peterson R, Mungas D, Torres JM, Mayeda ER, Gilsanz P, Whitmer RA, Corrada MM, Glymour MM. Social network characteristics and cognitive function, decline, and mortality: A joint modeling approach. Alzheimers Dement. 2026 Jul;22(7):e71600. doi: 10.1002/alz.71600.
PMID: 42437967
Wu Y, Rojas-Saunero LP, Zhou Y, Hayes-Larson E, Fong JO, Mobley T, Brenowitz WD, Hoffmann TJ, Deters KD, Whitmer RA, Gilsanz P, Gee GC, Brookmeyer R, Mayeda ER. APOE-ε4 carriership and dementia risk over 10 years among Asian American and White older adults. Alzheimers Dement. 2026 Jul;22(7):e71615. doi: 10.1002/alz.71615. PMID: 42427166
Meyer OL, Harrati A, Gavett BE, Farias ST, Whitmer RA, Widaman K, Hoang V, Tobias M, Mungas D. Effects of early-life environment and adulthood SES on cognitive change in a multiethnic cohort. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2023 Mar 7:1-9. doi:10.1017/S135561772200087X. Epub ahead of print. PMID:36880230.
Hayes-Larson E, Ikesu R, Fong J, Mobley TM, Gee GC, Brookmeyer R, Whitmer RA, Gilsanz P, Mayeda ER. Association of Education With Dementia Incidence Stratified by Ethnicity and Nativity in a Cohort of Older Asian American Individuals. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e231661. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.1661. PMID:36877520.
Petrosyan D, Corrada MM, Kawas CH, Demoz A, Ganzon C, Popovich O, Gaied R, Mungas D, Gilsanz P, Vieira KE, Whitmer RA, DeCarli C. Assessing cognitive impairment in an ethnically diverse cohort of oldest-old: the life after 90 study. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2023 Mar 4. doi:10.1007/s40520-023-02368-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID:36870029.