Emerging physician-scientist Casey Vanderlip is this year’s recipient of UC Irvine’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award.

Already an accomplished researcher, Casey is working to transform early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. His commitment to his research is deeply personal. After watching two of his grandparents experience the disease, he became determined to understand neurodegenerative illness and help translate scientific discoveries into meaningful improvements for patients and families.

Casey joined UC Irvine’s Medical Scientist Training Program in 2022 and is pursuing both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in neurobiology and behavior. His work bridges medicine and neuroscience, reflecting his belief that research achieves its greatest impact when discoveries move beyond the laboratory and into patient care.

At UC Irvine, Casey’s research focuses on improving how Alzheimer’s disease is detected and monitored. His work could ultimately help clinicians determine who may benefit from innovative treatments before significant memory loss occurs.

Casey has already established an exceptional record of scholarship. During three years in the lab while pursuing his doctorate, he has published 14 first-author papers and 20 total papers. His research has appeared in leading scientific journals, and he has presented his findings at scientific meetings throughout the United States and internationally.

He is just as passionate about communicating science; he won UC Irvine’s 2025 Grad Slam competition with his presentation, “Catching Alzheimer’s Disease Before It Starts – With a Simple Memory Game.” He has also written for The Loh Down on Science and received numerous research, leadership and fellowship honors.

Casey represents the promise of a new generation of physician-scientists: equally committed to discovery, communication and compassionate care. Through his research, he is working toward a future in which Alzheimer’s can be recognized earlier, treated more effectively and understood not simply as a scientific challenge but as a deeply human one.