Zaven Khachaturian is the Editor-in-Chief of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: the Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. He also serves as the Senior Science Advisor to the Alzheimer’s Association.

He was the former Director of the Office of Alzheimer's Disease Research, responsible for coordinating all Alzheimer's disease related activities NIH-wide, he was also the former Associate Director for the Neuroscience and Neuropsychology of Aging Program (NNA) at the National Institution on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health (NIH). At the NIA was responsible for planning, developing and administering the national research programs on brain aging and Alzheimer's disease. He is recognized worldwide as the architect of the major national programs of research on Alzheimer’s disease and brain aging.

During nearly twenty years of government service, Dr. Khachaturian occupied several major positions, including special assignments in: the Office of the Secretary, DHHS, the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives and the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the U.S. Congress. In these positions he made important contributions to the development of public policy and the formulation of legislative initiatives related to research on brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

Since 1995, as consultants to the Alzheimer’s Association, he developed the concept of the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute. He now provides advice for planning and re-engineering the Association’s grants administration, scientific review process and fundraising development efforts. He has planned and convened the Reagan Institute Work Groups, which has published several important consensus documents.

Dr. Khachaturian has made significant original scientific contributions to the development of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease as distinct areas of investigation. He formulated the first unifying theory of brain aging and played a leadership role in stimulating the fields of neuropathology and neurology to adopt standards for diagnostic criteria. As an international lecturer on Alzheimer’s disease and brain aging, he translates research to lay audiences, publishes seminal reviews and theoretical papers, and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. Currently, he is a member of the FDA Peripheral and Central Nervous System Advisory (PCNS) Advisory Committee.

He obtained his BA, in 1961, from Yale University and his doctorate, in 1967, from Case Western Reserve University. His post-doctoral training, during 1967-1969, was at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. He held an academic appointment at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, from 1969 to 1977. Other positions he has held include: Vice-president for Research at the University of Pittsburgh, and Professor of Health Services Administration, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. During his tenure as Vice-president for Research he developed the strategic business plans for the Pittsburgh Biotechnology Center.

His academic and professional interests have focused on such topics as: Alzheimer’s Disease, Neurobiology of Aging, Neuroplasticity, Learning, Memory, Calcium Homeostasis, Health Research Administration, Models of Health Services, and the Politics of Science.