Head of Institute Prof. Dr. Anja Leist
Tasks and functions at the Institute of Gerontology
- Director
- Lecturer
Professional background
Table
2026 – | Full Professor in Gerontology and Director at the Institute of Gerontology, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg. |
2024 – | Full Professor in Public Health and Ageing, University of Luxembourg. |
2023 – | Special advisor to the rectorate (Chargée de mission) on Research Assessment, University of Luxembourg. |
2020 – | Vice-Head, Institute for Research on Socio-Economic Inequality, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg |
2018 – 2024 | Associate Professor (personal chair, tenure) and ERC Fellow, University of Luxembourg. |
2014 – 2018 | Senior researcher, University of Luxembourg. |
2011 – 2014 | Postdoc: Fellowship carried out as PI, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands, and University of Luxembourg. |
2011 – 2011 | Postdoc: ‘Ambient Assisted Living JP’ Project V2me, University of Luxembourg. |
2009 – 2011 | Postdoc: Fellowship ‘RELOCATION, Well-Being and Self-Concept Development after Relocation’, University of Luxembourg. |
2008 – 2009 | Postdoc: Old-Age Self-Concept and Self-Regulation, University of Trier. |
2005 – 2008 | Scientific Assistant and PhD Candidate, University of Trier. |
Main Focus of Work
Prof. Dr. Anja Leist is an expert on the topics of health inequalities, cognitive ageing, and dementia from a social epidemiological and life course perspective. She leads the Institute for Gerontology (IfG) and oversees the IfG’s research on ageing and later life as a heterogeneous, multifactorial, and societally relevant phase of life. The IfG collaborates with researchers active in disciplines such as epidemiology, sociology, psychology, neurosciences, ethics, and medicine to acknowledge ageing as a complex interplay of societal, social, and biological conditions.
Before coming to Heidelberg University, Anja was Full Professor in Public Health and Ageing at the University of Luxembourg where she also served as Special Advisor to the Rector on the topic of research assessment. She previously had research stays at the universities of Trier, Zurich, and Rotterdam, and has received to date close to 3M EUR funding from national and European funders, among them the European Research Council.
Anja is Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and has received multiple international awards for her scientific contributions. She serves as expert on the topics of dementia, health politics, and ageing on several scientific advisory boards. She is Associate Editor at the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and editorial board member of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Behavior and Socioeconomics of Ageing. She regularly acts as panel member and reviewer for national and European funders.
Anja is a regular invited speaker on the topics of AI and digital health tools in disease prevention and at older ages, ethics considerations in digital health, and the social determinants of cognitive ageing. She is co-founder of GetBrainHealthy.org, a platform that uses validated science communication methods for brain health education, specifically to raise awareness on modifiable brain health risk factors with, among other materials, the B.R.A.I.N.P.O.W.E.R2acronym (© uni.lu).
Last update 23 April 2026