Dear Friends,
As we step into a new season of discovery and innovation, I am happy to share with you the latest issue of Inside Salk. This edition highlights some of the most exciting research happening at our Institute—work that has the potential to reshape our understanding of science and create lasting global impact.
The cover story features our Harnessing Plants Initiative, a bold effort to clean our air and improve crop resiliency by enhancing the natural ability of plants to capture and store carbon deep in the soil. This pioneering work leverages genetic advancements to develop crops with deeper, more extensive root systems—an approach that has the potential to significantly reduce atmospheric carbon levels. With the world facing an escalating climate crisis, Salk’s nature-based solutions offer a hopeful and powerful means of intervention.
In parallel with our work in environmental sustainability, 2025 marks Salk’s Year of Alzheimer’s Disease Research. As one of the defining medical challenges of our time, Alzheimer’s disease affects millions of individuals and their families, placing an immense emotional and economic burden on society. Despite decades of research, effective treatments remain elusive. But here at Salk, we are taking a bold new approach.
Our researchers are exploring the links between Alzheimer’s and chronic inflammation—driven by genomic instability and dysregulated energy metabolism— which may hold the key to unlocking new preventive strategies and therapeutic interventions. Unlike traditional research that has largely focused on amyloid plaques and tau tangles, Salk’s scientists are widening the scope, examining the fundamental cellular and molecular processes that drive neurodegeneration. This shift is already yielding new insights that could one day lead to treatments that slow, halt, or even prevent the disease. On page 34, postdoctoral researcher Irene López Gutiérrez shares what it’s like to be a part of this shift, as she and her colleagues use Salk’s new research models to better understand inflammation in the aging brain.
Science at Salk thrives because of you, our generous donors and supporters who believe in the power of discovery. Your investment in our work enables us to push the boundaries of knowledge, take risks, and accelerate breakthroughs that will benefit humanity for generations to come. Whether it is through our efforts to combat climate change or our quest to defeat Alzheimer’s, your partnership is making an impact where it matters most.
As we continue our mission to advance science for the betterment of society, I invite you to engage with us—through philanthropy, advocacy, or simply by sharing our vision with others who believe in the power of research. Together, we can harness the power of biological discovery to build a healthier, more sustainable world.
Warmest regards,
Gerald Joyce
Salk Institute President
