Yonas Geda, MD

Yonas Geda, MD, is a psychiatrist and behavioral neurologist in the Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders Program and a professor in the Department of Neurology at Barrow Neurological Institute. He is board certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and in behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties.

Dr. Geda’s areas of expertise include brain aging (e.g., evaluating and treating executives with stress and memory concerns), mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and related disorders. He is a member of the Science Committee of the French Alzheimer’s Research Group, and he served as chair of the award committees of the American Neuropsychiatric Association and the Neuropsychiatric Professional Interest Area of the Alzheimer’s Association. Dr. Geda is an associate fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Geda earned his medical degree from Addis Ababa (Haile Selassie) University in Ethiopia. He also earned a Master of Science degree in biomedical science and clinical research at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota as a National Institutes of Health Research Scientist Career Development scholar. Following his psychiatry residency training at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Geda completed a fellowship in behavioral neurology.

Dr. Geda’s research interests include the investigation of the role of lifestyle factors (exercise, mental activities, and caloric intake) and neuropsychiatric symptoms of mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and related disorders. He has published over 145 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Dr. Geda is the lead author of an international panel that developed the neurobiological theoretical model to investigate neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.