Michael Leon, professor emeritus of neurobiology and behavior at the UC Irvine Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences, received an inaugural Gamechanger Award from the University of California Board of Regents at a ceremony at UCLA in September. The award recognizes his development of Memory Air, a device designed to support memory through scent delivered during sleep.
Part of the new UC Regents Innovation Awards, the Gamechanger Award honors faculty members and researchers whose inventions have become impactful products in public use. Eligible innovations must improve societal well-being, benefit the regional or state economy, or advance scientific understanding. Leon was one of three recipients in the inaugural Gamechanger category.
Memory Air grew out of Leon’s research on the relationship between smell and memory. The olfactory system has direct connections to brain regions involved in learning and memory, making scent a promising avenue for studying cognitive health. His work explores how exposure to a variety of scents, known as olfactory enrichment, can help stimulate those regions as people age.
In a study published in 2023, Leon and his UC Irvine colleagues studied nightly scent exposure in healthy adults ages 60 to 85. After six months, the researchers reported a 226% improvement on a verbal memory test in the enriched group compared with a control group. The findings supported further development of an approach that could fit into a person’s daily routine with little effort.
To translate the research into a practical product, Leon partnered with health care entrepreneur Alan Bernstein to develop Memory Air through their startup, Science Lab 3. With support from UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation, the team worked with engineering firm Spanner to create a device that automatically releases distinct scents in sequence. Its simple, single-button design allows users to receive olfactory enrichment without manually managing repeated scent exposures.
The Regents award adds to a series of honors for Leon and the invention. Memory Air was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025 in the Health & Wellness category. In April, Leon was also named Innovator of the Year at the 2026 UC Irvine Innovator Awards.
Across five categories, the inaugural UC Regents Innovation Awards recognized 23 people whose work brings university discoveries into public use. For Leon, the Gamechanger Award recognizes the translation of years of research on smell and the brain into a product people can use at home.