Nedergaard Named 2025 NAI Fellow for Transformative Discoveries in Brain Waste Clearance

Maiken Nedergaard, MD, DMSc, co-director of the University of Rochester Center for Translational Neuromedicine, has been elected a 2025 International Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. The recognition highlights more than a decade of research that has reshaped neuroscience and opened new possibilities for treating complex brain disorders.

Nedergaard’s work includes the landmark discovery of the glymphatic system, the brain’s previously unrecognized waste-clearing network that becomes most active during deep sleep. Her team more recently identified complementary lymphatic vessels surrounding the brain that help move this waste into the body’s broader clearance pathways. Together, these findings have transformed our understanding of how the brain maintains its health and why conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and migraines can emerge when these systems fail.

Research at Rochester and worldwide continues to reveal how sleep quality, vascular pulsation, aging, and injury shape the efficiency of this “plumbing system.” These insights are now pointing toward promising therapeutic strategies—from strengthening brain lymphatic pathways to restoring healthy sleep rhythms and improving fluid flow through brain tissue.

Read the full story on the University of Rochester website.