Globally, Alzheimer’s disease impacts women at a much higher rate than men. In the United States, two-thirds of the 6.2 million people living with Alzheimer’s disease are women. Understanding these gender and sex differences – and ultimately preventing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia – is at the root of the pioneering work of Jessica Caldwell, PhD, a new faculty member in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Alzheimer’s disease programs.
Caldwell joined UW–Madison in September 2025 as the multi-principal investigator of the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP) study at Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute and a visiting associate professor in the department of neurology. Caldwell is a board-certified neuropsychologist with experience in clinical care, research, and administration. Her areas of expertise are dementia prevention and sex and gender influences on Alzheimer’s disease risk and resilience—for example, how hormones and socially-determined gender roles impact risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease.
“The brain’s memory system is full of estrogen receptors. This may be part of the reason why, on average, girls and women have better verbal memory than boys and men,” she said. “When it comes to Alzheimer’s disease, verbal memory is impacted early and women tend to have a steeper decline. Understanding this reason is really at the heart of my research.”
Originally from a small town called Negaunee in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Caldwell earned an undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in creative writing at Princeton University, followed by a PhD in clinical psychology with a neuroscience minor at UW–Madison.
As a graduate student at UW–Madison working with Dr. Marilyn Essex and Dr. Richard Davidson, Caldwell researched differences between adolescent boys and girls in psychopathology and neural structure and function. In contrast, her clinical training focused on neuropsychological assessment and diagnosis of memory problems in older adults.
“I always saw parallels between adolescence and aging, with both life stages characterized by neural and social change,” she said. “My recent line of research has shown that women had different patterns of risk and resilience than men did, due to both biological sex and socially constructed gender roles.”
Caldwell was previously founding director of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention Center at Cleveland Clinic, which she designed specifically for women to learn how to reduce their dementia risks and boost their resilience. She also led a research program investigating sex and gender differences in Alzheimer’s disease, and non-pharmacological dementia prevention.
Returning to the Wisconsin Idea and the WRAP study
The WRAP study began in 2001 and now consists of more than 2,000 research participants followed over time to learn about biological, health and lifestyle factors impacting Alzheimer’s disease. Today, it is one of the largest and longest-running studies of individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s disease in the world. Data from the study is shared with researchers around the globe and was recently integral to validation of the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved blood test to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease.
“When I designed my intervention clinic, WRAP was one of the key studies I looked to for inspiration and guidance,” Caldwell said. “Joining the leadership team of WRAP is an incredible honor and feels like coming full circle in my academic career.”
Related Links:
“Why Alzheimer’s is more common in women” – Dr. Caldwell interview in Everyday Health, November 2025
Dr. Caldwell discusses women and Alzheimer’s disease – Dementia Matters podcast, May 25, 2022
“UW-Madison research helps launch first FDA-cleared blood test for Alzheimer’s disease” – May 28, 2025