Shireen Sindi

Shireen Sindi

Senior Research Specialist | Docent
Visiting address: Karolinska vägen 37 A, QA3, 17164 Solna
Postal address: H1 Neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle, H1 Klinisk geriatrik Kivipelto, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • Shireen Sindi, PhD is Associate Professor (Docent) at Karolinska Institute (Sweden),   Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Division of Clinical Geriatrics. She completed her former studies at McGill University (Canada), with a Bachelor’s degree (B.A) in psychology, and master's and doctoral degrees (MSc and PhD) at McGill’s Integrated Program in Neuroscience. More recently, she also completed an MSc in Clinical Trials at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and an MBA at Imperial College Business School.

Research

  • As an Associate Professor (Docent) at the Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Clinical Geriatrics, Karolinska Institute, Sweden, her research centers on uncovering multi-system biological mechanisms contributing to cognitive decline and dementia risk factors. Specifically, she investigates the intricate relationships between stress, sleep disturbances, and sex differences across the spectrum from normal aging to Alzheimer’s disease.

    Her achievements include serving as Principal Investigator (PI) for several project grants, employing multi-center designs to enhance statistical power and generalizability. She has established interdisciplinary international collaborations where she has led the study design, project management, and the publication of articles and book chapters. 

    Her research integrates various biomarkers, including cortisol, neuroimaging, Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers (beta-amyloid, tau), neuroinflammation markers, and allostatic load (reflecting chronic stress). Furthermore, she explores the impacts of multidomain lifestyle interventions encompassing diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular/metabolic risk management on cognition and sleep, delving into underlying mechanisms such as telomere length and the microbiome.

    Notably, her research has unveiled groundbreaking insights, including associations between cortisol and AD biomarkers, neuroinflammation, allostatic load and neuroimaging markers. She has also published on the associations between sleep disturbances, the risk for dementia and cognitive decline, multimorbidity, and the underlying mechanisms. Her research also showed for the first time an effect of a lifestyle interventions on telomere length in a sample at risk for dementia, and the peresence of sex differences in dementia incidence and risk factors.

    She is also the Coordinator for Data-Driven and AI Research at KI (DDKI), which is an initiative that has been established by the KI Committee for Research to promote this rapidly advancing area of research and to facilitate its translation to address clinical and educational needs. 

    She also has a solid track record for supervising and mentoring students and postdocs at various levels at several institutes (e.g. Karolinska Institute, Imperial College London, Stockholm University, University of Eastern Finland). Additionally, her leadership roles, such as former Chair for Junior Faculty and current Chair for National Junior Faculty (Sweden), underscores her commitment to advancing scientific careers and opportunities, while her representation on committees with Senior Leadership Teams at various universities demonstrates her leadership and collaborative skills.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 October 2023 - 30 September 2030
    Research problem, specific questionsMaintaining cognitive and functional ability into late life is a lifelong process and health promotion/early intervention are the vital components of public health efforts to achieve healthy aging. The FINGER multidomain intervention trial, which integrates five healthy behaviour domains—nutrition, exercise, cognitive training, social activity, and vascular risk monitoring and management, was the first large-scale randomized controlled trial in the world showing evidence for cognitive benefit in older adults at-risk for dementia. The benefit was also extended to physical function, cardiovascular health, quality of life, and health economic aspects. Despite the compelling evidence, more questions remain to be answered: Are the findings from the FINGER trial generalizable to different settings in the Swedish context (e.g., memory clinic, primary care, and municipality)? Can the FINGER model contribute to additional parameters central for healthy aging? Is there an evidence-based need to further refine the FINGER model? How can the FINGER model be adapted and implemented across socioeconomically diverse populations? In this 6-year program, we address these questions by adapting and implementing the FINGER model in different settings and sociocultural contexts.Data and methodWe plan six interrelated work packages: a) Adapting and implementing the FINGER model across different settings in Swedish society
    b) Testing the FINGER model for healthy aging
    c) Refining the FINGER model with novel risk factors and sex differences in the response to lifestyle interventions
    d) Adapting and implementing the FINGER model in sociocultural contexts
    e) Health economic assessment, payment models and sustainment
    and f) Knowledge dissemination, implementation of findings and public involvement. We use data from a) existing FINGER and FINGER-based trials in many countries (e.g., MIND-AD, MIND-China)
    b) ongoing FINGER-based implementation studies in different contexts: specialist (Brain Health Clinic), primary care (STRONGER), and municipality (Train your Brain)
    and c) pilot studies to capture younger people and family caregivers (Family FINGERS).Relevance and utilisationThe program will generate new knowledge on tailored intervention approaches at individual and population levels to support longer and healthier lives in different settings and sociocultural contexts. This knowledge is critical knowledge for the development of health policies to promote of healthy aging and equal health care.Plan for programme realisationThe program is carried out by an interdisciplinary team of experts with expertise in relevant disciplines, e.g., epidemiology, gerontology, clinical geriatrics, clinical trials, implementation research, psychology, health economics, biostatistics, and care science. The budget is used for supporting researchers to implement the study plan and collect new data. The applicant will coordinate all research activities.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 July 2023 - 30 June 2027
    Research problem and specific questionsPopulation aging in Sweden and worldwide makes it essential to increase our knowledge of mechanisms underlying older peoples’ mental health and loneliness to identify preventive strategies. Stress has a clear impact on mental health. Yet, little is known about how different stressors (experiences that cause stress) in different contexts throughout the life course impact mental health problems and loneliness in older adults. Moreover, the stress-mental health-loneliness nexus throughout the life course is not well understood. The overall goal of this project is to better understand how exposure to different kinds of stressors across the life course is associated with mental health and loneliness in older adults. What are the relations between stressors, mental health, and loneliness across the life course? Are there ways to counteract the negative impact of stressors through social resources and lifestyle factors?Data and methodLongitudinal data will be used to assess age-based and life-long stressors: childhood e.g., family conflicts, adulthood e.g., work stressors, late adulthood e.g., conflict with children or grandchildren, and stressors that may play a role from childhood to older age, e.g., financial strain, death of relatives, loved ones, or close friends. Outcomes: anxiety, depressive symptoms, self-reported psychiatric disorder, quality of life, suicidal thoughts, and perceived loneliness. Importantly, we will also study how social resources and lifestyle factors can impact these associations, and the role that gender and socioeconomic position play across the life course. Advanced statistical modelling will be used, e.g., structural equation models and growth curve models.Relevance and utilisationThis project aims to identify at-risk groups and modifiable factors that can buffer against stress. The results can support practical recommendations on stress-buffering factors that can be implemented at strategic points in the life course, which can be promoted at a societal level, and, ultimately, help to reach the goals of sustainable and healthy aging for all.Plan for project realisationThe researchers have extensive knowledge of the proposed data sets, as well as access to them. The main costs for the project are for salaries. We will work in close collaboration with Dr. Martin Hyde from Swansea University. To enable this, costs are included in the budget for several research visits during the project period.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2024
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 July 2019 - 30 November 2023
  • Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé
    1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016
  • Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé
    1 April 2013 - 31 March 2015
  • Stress, Memory and Hippocampal Volume in Young and Older Adults
    Canadian Institutes of Health Research
    1 May 2011 - 30 September 2013

Employments

  • Senior Research Specialist, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2024

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