Roberson serves as the director of the UAB Alzheimer's Disease Center and is a physician-scientist dedicated to reducing the impact of age-related cognitive impairment. His lab studies the neurobiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), with a focus on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of these disorders and identifying new therapeutic strategies. Focus areas include tau and its binding partners in neuronal dysfunction in AD, the mechanisms by which genetic risk factors drive AD, and how progranulin deficiency causes FTD. 

Roberson was instrumental in a pioneering study published in Science that demonstrated, for the first time, the benefits of reducing tau in Alzheimer's mouse models. This seminal work laid the exact groundwork for trials underway today.