The current Pepper Scholars are highlighted on this page. We are proud of their ambitious scholarship and high potential to shape the future of aging research.
Pepper Scholars are typically funded for at least two years to complete a research project. Select a name or scroll down to learn more about each scholar’s project.
Year One
Aditya Shirali, MD
Assistant Professor

Year One
Jungyun Hwang, PhD
Research Assistant Scientist

Year Two
Soamy Montesino Goicolea, MD
Research Assistant Professor

Year two
Khanjan Shah, MD
Assistant Professor

Year One Pepper Scholars

Aditya Shirali, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine
Project: “Rescuing mobility function through surgical removal of the parathyroid gland”
About: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common hormonal disorder in older adults that often leads to problems with thinking, mood, and muscle strength, lowering overall quality of life. It is caused by too much parathyroid hormone (PTH) from overactive glands, which damages muscle cells by disrupting their energy production and increasing inflammation—leading to weakness and trouble moving.
Surgery to remove the overactive glands (parathyroidectomy) has been shown to help improve muscle strength, but we still don’t fully understand how much it improves mobility, especially in older adults.
This study aims to explore how parathyroidectomy affects mobility and physical activity in older adults with PHPT, and to find biological markers that might predict which patients will see improvements. We will enroll 40 patients aged 60 and older at the University of Florida and track their mobility, activity levels, and inflammation markers before and after surgery.
This pilot study will offer important early data on how parathyroidectomy may improve movement and activity in older adults, helping shape future treatment guidelines. Positive findings could support larger studies and improve care for aging patients with PHPT.

Jungyun Hwang, PhD
Research Assistant Scientist, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine
Project: “Somatosensory feedback to improve neural control of walking in older adults”
About: Maintaining mobility in older adults is essential for safely navigating everyday environments—whether it’s walking around the house, climbing stairs, or crossing a crowded street. These situations often involve distractions or multitasking, like talking while walking or thinking about something else. For older adults, these challenges can become risky due to natural declines in sensation, thinking ability, and muscle coordination.
One common issue is reduced feeling in the feet, known as somatosensory impairment. This condition becomes more common with age and certain illnesses, and it disrupts the sensory feedback that the brain uses to control movement and balance. Without reliable input from the feet, older adults are more likely to trip, fall, or bump into objects. They often try to compensate by paying extra attention to walking, which can overload their mental capacity and still lead to accidents.
This study aims to see if a wearable device called Walkasins—a sensory neuroprosthesis worn on the lower leg—can help. The device is designed to send signals to the nervous system to replace or enhance the lost sensory feedback from the feet, potentially improving walking and balance.
We will enroll 30 older adults with foot sensation loss. Each person will walk through a specially designed obstacle course twice: once with Walkasins turned “on” and once with it “off” (with at least one week in between sessions). The course includes challenges like walking while doing a mental task or stepping over obstacles, simulating real-world situations. We will use pressure-sensitive walkways to analyze their walking patterns and measure how hard their brain is working using a brain imaging tool called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
This pilot study will help us understand how foot sensory loss affects the brain and body while walking, and whether Walkasins can improve safety and confidence in mobility. The results will help design larger studies and contribute to new rehabilitation strategies that support healthy aging and independence.
Year Two Pepper Scholars

Soamy Montesino Goicolea, MD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry
Project: “Deciphering the Neurobiological Role of Sleep Quality and Pain in Mobility Decline in Older Adults”
About: Building on an ongoing study funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), this research project aims to delve deeper into the intricate relationship between sleep quality, chronic pain, and the decline in mobility often observed in older adults. The parent study, which is designed to provide a comprehensive biopsychosocial profile of the elderly population and has already incorporated standardized measures of pain and mobility, provides a solid foundation for further exploration. In this ancillary study, we will supplement these existing measures with both objective and subjective sleep quality measures. A pioneering aspect of this study is the incorporation of a mobile Electroencephalography (EEG) technique, namely the EEG headband. This innovative approach enables an objective, ecologically valid evaluation of sleep in the comfort of the participant’s home. It also enhances our understanding of normal and pathological brain function, providing valuable insights into the neurological aspects of sleep, pain, and mobility. Our specific aims are twofold. Firstly, we aim to characterize the baseline pain and sleep measures that predict prospective mobility decline in aging. This will involve a detailed analysis of the data collected, identifying key indicators and trends that could signal a future decline in mobility. Secondly, we aim to investigate whether longitudinal changes in brain structure and function mediate the prospective association between sleep disorders and mobility decline in aging. This will involve sophisticated neuroimaging techniques and longitudinal data analysis, providing a deeper understanding of the neurological underpinnings of this association. By employing innovative techniques like the EEG headband, the study will underscore the combined impact of sleep quality and chronic pain on mobility. This comprehensive approach will allow us to examine the issue from multiple angles, ensuring a thorough and robust investigation. This research will provide essential preliminary data for a K23 application, facilitating the transition to independence for a clinically trained candidate.
The findings from this study will not only advance the candidate’s career but also contribute significantly to the field of geriatric research. In conclusion, this research project represents a significant step forward in our understanding of the complex interplay between sleep, pain, and mobility in older adults. The insights gained could have far-reaching implications for the treatment and management of these issues, ultimately improving the quality of life for older adults.

Khanjan Shah, MD
Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine
Project: “Examining the Co-Occurrence of Peripheral Arterial Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias on Mobility, Falls, and Other Patient-Centered Outcomes in Older Adults”
About: Older adults with claudication – pain with exertion from peripheral arterial disease (PAD) – are at increased risk of falls and loss of independence. The additive impact of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) on mobility, falls, and other patient-centered outcomes in patients with PAD is unknown despite representing a growing percentage of the aging population. Caregivers and physicians struggle to navigate crucial decision making in patients with PAD and ADRD because of a lack of information on outcomes in this population. This is particularly important because there are three potential treatment strategies for claudication – symptom control, catheter-based interventions (stents), and open surgery (bypass) – each with dramatically different treatment intensities and tradeoffs. Shared-decision making about ideal treatment strategy with patients and caregivers is not possible without information on patient-centered outcomes after each of the treatment options in specific populations. Given the gap in knowledge of outcomes in patients with claudication and ADRD, the candidate proposes a “mixed-methods” study using the OneFlorida+ clinical research network with resources from the University of Florida Perioperative Cognitive Anesthesia Network (PeCAN) for ADRD. Aims 1 and 2 are retrospective analyses using real-world data to compare claudication treatment selection and resulting mobility-focused clinical outcomes in patients with and without ADRD. The candidate hypothesizes that patients with ADRD are more likely to have symptoms control and that they will have worse traditional and mobility outcomes after open surgery. In Aim 3, the candidate will prospectively examine the neurocognitive profile of patients with claudication in order assess the hypothesis that there is a substantial portion of this group with undiagnosed cognitive impairment and disorders meeting ADRD clinical characteristics, co-occurring mood disorders, and frailty. A subaim is to assess caregiver burden in PAD patients with or without ADRD. These aims will be carried out by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in PAD, ADRD, large-dataset analyses, biostatistics, neuropsychology, geriatrics. This investigation will improve our understanding of patient-centered clinical outcomes for patients with PAD and ADRD. Data will be used to develop intervention strategies based on cognition, mood, and caregiver burden in order to improve mobility.