Cheick Sissoko, a Ph.D. candidate at University of Cincinnati, has received IFER funding for his project, "Microfluidic-based sensor-enabled Neurovascular unit for modeling Alzheimer's Disease impact on the brain vasculature." Progressive leakage of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is now recognized as both a driver and amplifier of Alzheimer's pathology, yet the molecular and biophysical events that erode BBB integrity remain poorly defined. Current animal models fail to capture the genetics and complexity of human Alzheimer's, contributing to a 90% clinical trial failure rate. Cheick is creating the first fully human, sensor-enabled model of the neurovascular unit, coupling iPSC-derived brain endothelial cells with 3D brain organoids containing neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. An integrated aptamer-based sensor delivers real-time inflammatory readouts while fluorescence tracers and calcium imaging track barrier tightness and neural activity. This high-resolution system will reveal how neuroinflammation compromises the BBB, enable rapid discovery of barrier-protective compounds, and replace hundreds of rodents typically used in equivalent screening campaigns—advancing both Alzheimer's research and the 3Rs principles.