Donating Your Brain to Science
Studying the brain is a long-term project, with researchers still trying to understand how to treat and cure diseases such as dementia. When people donate their brains to a Brain Bank, the results can be valuable and far-reaching, says Stephanie McQuillan, Clinical Research Manager of the Neuropathology Brain Bank & Research CoRE at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Stephen Calabria: [00:00:00:00] From the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, this is Road to Resilience, a podcast about facing adversity. I'm your host, Stephen Calabria, Mount Sinai's Director of Podcasting.
On this episode, we welcome Stephanie McQuillan, a researcher with the Neuropathology Brain Bank and Research Corps at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In this role, Mrs. McQuillan manages the clinical coordination of how and when people donate their brains.
The research conducted by the Brain Bank has already led to advancements in understanding neurodegenerative diseases, with a goal of ultimately identifying effective treatments for dementias and other diseases.
Most recently, on September 9th, 2025, the brain bank was featured in a New York Times cover story that detailed the steps involved in prreparing brain tissuse for analysis and diagnosis.
The resilience exhibited by patients, their families, and the researchers themselves offers guidance to anyone going through difficult or life [00:01:00] altering circumstances. We're honored to welcome Stephanie McQuillan to the show.
Stephanie McQuillan, welcome to Road to Resilience.
Stephanie McQuillian: Thank you. Happy to be here.
Stephen Calabria: Can you give us an overview of the Neuropathology Brain Bank and Research Corps, and how the work done here is critical for both the scientific and patient communities?
Stephanie McQuillian: Absolutely. So we are a laboratory that respectfully collects and stores human brain tissue after a consented donor passes away.
For the purpose of neuropathological diagnoses and responsible distribution to other researchers and laboratories, we have three main goals: service, training, and research.
So we as a lab feel we have a service to the community to study these neuropathological diseases.