Zoe Arvanitakis, MD MS

Dr. Arvanitakis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Sciences atRush University Medical Center in Chicago, Ill.. She received her doctorate in medicine from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. During her neurology residency, she went overseas to do a six-month rotation in behavioral neurology at the Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France. She then specialized in the field of dementia by training as a behavioral neurology fellow at the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. More recently, Dr. Arvanitakis received a master of science in clinical research, with subspecialization in epidemiology, from the Graduate College of Rush University. 

Dr. Arvanitakis is a cognitive neurologist with a particular interest in dementia caused by different types of brain degeneration (such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia) and by vascular disease (stroke). She is a clinician-scientist who performs clinical work, teaches, and conducts research on neurological aspects of aging. She sees patients with memory and other cognitive or behavioral problems for diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Arvanitakis teaches Rush medical and non-medical students, residents, and staff. She also serves as director of an educational program on dementia, offered at the largest international meeting of neurology (the American Academy of Neurology), for neurologists across the country and from outside the United States. She has been appointed Director of the Rush Neurology Residency Research Mentoring Program, overseeing research training for a next generation of neurologists.

In addition to clinical and teaching responsibilities, Dr. Arvanitakis conducts original research. She is principal investigator of grants funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association, which aim to identify biomarkers of aging and dementia. She also serves as principal investigator and sub-investigator of clinical trials of dementia, including being co-principal investigator of a trial using an experimental gene transfer drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Further, Dr. Arvanitakis is the primary neurologist carrying out evaluations of participants in longitudinal epidemiologic studies funded by the National Institute on Aging. These studies include the Religious Orders Study and the Memory and Aging Project, which aim to improve understanding of risk factors for cognitive and motor changes in older persons. Her work has been presented at national and international meetings and published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

Dr. Arvanitakis is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She was elected to be an active member of the American Neurological Association, the American Academy of Neurology, and the Gerontological Society of America. She is also serves as an Executive Member of the Geriatric Neurology Section of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Arvanitakis speaks three languages: English, French and Greek.

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