Javad Anjum, an assistant professor in the Mary Frances Early College of Education, was recently named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to India for 2026-27.
As a Fulbright scholar, Anjum will travel to Mysuru District, India, to develop and implement a culturally responsive, interdisciplinary, and community-based cognitive enhancement program for older adults.
“In collaboration with partners in public health and speech-language pathology at the JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (JSSAHER), the project will adapt evidence-based cognitive stimulation activities for Indian languages and communities while training graduate students to support low-cost cognitive health interventions for older adults at risk for cognitive decline and dementia,” said Anjum, a faculty member in the Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education and the Speech and Hearing Clinic.
The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, promotes cultural exchange and collaboration between students and professionals across academic disciplines. Each year, 800 U.S. scholars travel abroad and 900 visiting scholars travel to the United States to address challenges affecting communities all over the world.
An expert in aging, cognition, and communication with an interest in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Anjum approaches his work by creating interdisciplinary training programs that improve clinical services for people with a language disorder called aphasia, and for older adults experiencing cognitive decline. His research and mentoring work through the Fulbright Program will help address the need to support the aging populations in both the United States and India.
“From rural Georgia to Mysuru, one of the most urgent challenges of global aging is creating accessible, community-based programs to prevent cognitive decline and dementia among older adults,” he said. “I see this Fulbright award as an opportunity to help develop these programs into more sustainable initiatives through continued collaboration between the MFECOE and JSSAHER and our local communities in both countries.”