Affiliation(s):

• Assistant Professor Department of Psychology, Institute of Gerontology and Department of Psychiatry, Wayne State University

I earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA in 2007. I have a doctorate in Psychology (Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience) from Wayne State University awarded in 2014, and then I completed a competitive post-doctoral fellowship at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before returning to Wayne State as a faculty member.

I study vascular and metabolic health factors that modify brain aging and dementia risk. For example, 1 in 3 American adults have a chronic hypertension diagnosis, and a diagnosis in mid-life doubles the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia to develop decades later. High blood pressure can be lowered with medication but this does not completely eliminate the risk for dementia, suggesting other factors that modify brain structure and function with chronic hypertension. My research applies advanced MRI methods, blood analytes, genetic risk markers and lifestyle behaviors to identify mechanisms that confer risk and possible interventions to promote cognitive maintenance into late life. Inherent to this work is development and validation of MRI biomarkers that may be sensitive to detect early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, as well as cognitive assessment methods that are sensitive to track disease progression and in response to lifestyle intervention. Through these studies we gain greater insight into the relation between brain structure and function, and mechanisms of their decline. I partner with community members and clinicians in my research to improve our understanding of typical cognitive aging and strategies to reduce risk for dementia. This work is currently supported with a pilot grant from the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

A discussion with older adults in a Detroit community center years ago inspired my current studies. Following my talk about heart health and cognitive aging, the folks asked for advice on how to protect memory function, and shared frustration about common recommendations that emphasized medical care given practical and financial impediments. I realized that research on the efficacy of clinical intervention is often divorced from the human context of aging; this led me to community-partnered research so to better understand how management of chronic hypertension across the lifespan affects individual aging trajectories. All with the intent to describe, and ultimately reduce, disparities in cognitive aging.

I am interested in evaluating the role of air pollution as a risk factor in cognitive decline and for Alzheimer’s disease. Chronic exposure to high levels of air pollution contributes to the development of metabolic and vascular health conditions that I study, and can subsequently exacerbate their effects. This is a natural extension of my current work and will be one more piece of the puzzle for addressing community health disparities.

Favorite writings are difficult to pick but there have been many influential ones. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks is one that I return to often. The book’s curious tales of psychiatric disorders stoked my interest for neuroscience as an undergraduate. Going back to it now, I especially appreciate how Sacks centers humanity in his tales. The stories have the clinical details, but I notice even more the themes of human adaptation, resiliency of relationships and everyday joy.

I have many role models who have shaped my outlook. I look up to Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall for her example of clinical translational research with direct community impact. I first learned of her work when she was appointed by the Obama Administration to the Board of Governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Her leadership in the field of mental health and psychiatry is a wonderful example of science in public stewardship.