Rate My Professor Elijah Mak

Elijah Mak, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Radiology and Associate Consultant I-Research in the Department of Radiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. His research centers on the early detection and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, with a primary emphasis on the dementia with Lewy bodies spectrum, including prodromal stages such as isolated REM sleep behavior disorder. Dr. Mak employs multimodal neuroimaging techniques, including structural and diffusion MRI alongside PET imaging of amyloid, tau, and neuroinflammation, to examine how multiple copathologies influence brain structural integrity, accelerate neurodegeneration, and affect clinical outcomes. He also investigates sex differences in the expression and impact of these pathologies to support personalized staging and risk stratification in Lewy body diseases.

Dr. Mak earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, completed a fellowship in Neuroimaging at the University at Buffalo, and received a B.A. in Psychology from the University at Buffalo. His professional highlights include the Rising Star Award (Silver) from the International Lewy Body Dementia Conference in 2022, the Rising Star Award from the Alzheimer's Society UK in 2018, the IPA Junior Research Award in Psychogeriatrics (first prize) in 2016, and the Gates Cambridge Scholarship in 2013.