Why I Started Healthspan Neurology

We now know that the brain changes leading to Alzheimer’s disease begin 20 to 30 years before the first symptom. We know that the majority of dementia cases are preventable. And we know that women make up two-thirds of dementia cases — and that the menopausal transition is a critical neurologic window that influences long-term brain health.

The science of dementia prevention is growing every day. It’s just not reaching mainstream medicine.

It’s hard to know all this — and to have been a dementia doctor to thousands of patients — and not do something about it. I built Healthspan Neurology to be the specialist you see now so that, hopefully, you never need that dementia doctor.

How I Think About the Brain

Before I was a neurologist, I trained as an engineer.

I studied mechanical engineering at MIT, and that mindset never left me. I still think in systems — where the failure points are, what the inputs and outputs are, and what’s happening upstream when something goes wrong downstream. When I evaluate a patient’s brain health, I’m not looking at one variable in isolation — I’m looking at the whole system.

The brain is the most energy-demanding organ in the body. It makes up roughly 2% of body weight but consumes nearly 20% of the body’s energy at rest. It is exquisitely sensitive to disruptions in sleep, metabolism, hormones, cardiovascular function, and inflammation. Understanding those connections — and addressing them systematically — is the foundation of everything I do at Healthspan Neurology.

Women’s Brain Health

One area where the gap between what we know and what patients receive is particularly striking is women’s brain health.

Women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The biology behind that disparity goes beyond our longer lifespans. It runs through menopause — through the neuroprotective role of estrogen, through the metabolic and vascular changes that accompany its decline, through years of symptoms that are frequently dismissed or undertreated.

As one of a small number of board-certified neurologists in the country who are also Menopause Society Certified Practitioners, I bring a neurologic lens to menopause care that most patients never have access to. The menopausal transition is not a gynecologic inconvenience. It is a neurologic event with long-term consequences — and it is one of the most important windows we have for Alzheimer’s prevention in women.

My Commitment to This Work

Healthspan Neurology is a small, deliberately designed practice. I see fewer patients than I did in traditional practice, and I spend far more time with each one. That is not a limitation — it is the point.

Whether you walk through my door or log on from across New York State, you get a neurologist who has read your records, thought carefully about your case, and has no interest in moving you through quickly. The goal is not to manage your symptoms. It is to understand your brain, identify your risks, and help you do something about them before they become your diagnosis.

That is what Healthspan Neurology is here to do. I’m glad you found me.