Michael S. Rafii, MD, PhD is Medical Director of the Epstein Family Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute and Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC).

Dr. Rafii earned his MD and PhD from Brown University, conducted neurogenetics research at Harvard Medical School, completed his neurology residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and a fellowship in neurodegenerative diseases at the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Rafii is Associate Director of the NIH-funded Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC), where he also leads the Medical Safety Unit, overseeing the safety and conduct of one of the world’s largest portfolios of Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials. He serves as Co-Director of the Clinical Core of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and as Co-Principal Investigator of the Alzheimer’s Network for Treatment and Diagnostics (ALZ-NET), two of the nation’s most influential programs advancing Alzheimer’s disease research and care.

Dr. Rafii is internationally recognized for his work on clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, in particular therapies targeting the genetic form of Alzheimer’s that affects individuals with Down syndrome. He serves as Principal Investigator of ACTC-DS, a global initiative dedicated to advancing treatments for this high-risk population.

Dr. Rafii led the Down Syndrome Biomarker Initiative (DSBI). This landmark study was the first to demonstrate that Down syndrome-related Alzheimer’s closely parallels other forms of Alzheimer’s disease, providing critical insights that have accelerated therapeutic development.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Rafii previously served as Neurology Residency Program Director, where he helped train the next generation of neurologists. He continues to mentor medical students, postdoctoral fellows and early-career physician-scientists. He is also author of First Aid for the Neurology Boards and First Aid for the Neurology Clerkship, widely regarded as among the most trusted review books for neurology residents and medical students.

Dr. Rafii’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, the Economist and NPR. He served as Medical Advisor to the Netflix documentary Remembering Gene Wilder and to the Emmy Award–winning television series Grey’s Anatomy and This Is Us.