Congratulations to 2020 CCAD Alumni, Dr. Miranda Orr! Dr. Orr’s research studying senescent cells in Alzheimer’s disease was featured in the January 2023 issue of National Geographic ‘Living Longer and Better’. Her team was the first to discover senescent cells—also called zombie cells—in both mouse and human brain neurons in the regions crucial for short- and long-term memory. These cells don’t die naturally, and they release toxic substances. Dr. Orr and her colleagues are studying whether drugs can kill these deadly cells and restore memory.