Hi, I’m Shanae. My journey into dementia research began in graduate school, where I was helping a professor recruit diverse participants for her dementia study. At the time, my own research focus was on diabetes in the Black community; dementia was not yet on my radar. But one phone call changed everything.

I reached out to a dear friend of over 40 years, who had become a Nurse Practitioner, to ask if she would share the study with her clinic patients. Instead of saying yes, she paused and told me that every one of her aunts on her father’s side had been diagnosed with dementia. I will never forget that moment. That was the day I learned that African Americans are twice as likely as our White counterparts to develop dementia, and I was stunned that I had not known sooner.

That conversation sent me home with new eyes. I started talking to my own family and discovered that we too had relatives living with dementia. It just was not something anyone talked about. The silence was familiar, but the reality behind it was urgent.

From that moment, I knew I had been called to this work. For a while, I’ve known my purpose was to serve. I just did not know what capacity until then. Now I travel across the country educating African American communities about dementia, brain health, and the importance of caregiver self-care. I am so grateful and blessed to be part of this community, and I do not take that lightly for one single day.