Profile – Prof Cindy Weinstein, California Institute of Technology

Professor Cindy Weinstein

Name:

Professor Cindy Weinstein

Job title:

Eli and Edythe Broad Professor of English

Place of work / study:

California Institute of Technology

Area of Research:

American Literature

How is your work funded?

California Institute of Technology / Alzheimer’s Association

Tell us a little about yourself:

I have been an English Professor at Caltech since 1989 and have written three books about American Literature. Finding the Right Words: A Story of Literature, Grief, and the Brain is my most recent book. I wrote it with Professor Bruce Miller with whom I studied neurology while an Atlantic Fellow in the Global Health Institute at UCSF.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself:

I went on Wheel of Fortune and messed up big time. It’s a funny story that I write about in Finding the Right Words.

Why did you choose to work in dementia?

My father had early-onset Alzheimer’s and I wanted to write a book honouring him. To do that, I wanted to gain a better understanding of what was happening to my father’s brain (he was sick in the 1980s and there wasn’t much information to be had). Also, the book I envisioned was a conversation between me and Dr. Miller, and in order to have that conversation, I needed to learn some of the basics of brain health.

What single piece of advice would you give to an early career researcher?

Know that rejection is part of the process of becoming the researcher you want to be. It happens to everyone!

Can we find you on Twitter?

No sorry