Melissa Lamar, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Rush University Medical Center, and a Clinical Neuropsychologist in the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center. She received her PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology from Drexel University and completed her postdoctoral training in Cognitive Neuroscience within the intramural program of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging. She worked at the Institute of Psychiatry King’s College London and the University of Illinois at Chicago prior to joining the Rush faculty in 2016. Her research focuses on cardiovascular, cognitive and brain aging with a particular focus on Latinos. Dr. Lamar employs novel neuroimaging and data analytic techniques including geographic information system mapping to identify modifiable factors that may increase health equity in brain aging. Additionally, she incorporates digital technology into her work assessing cognitive functioning to detect subtle alterations in behavior and pinpoint their roots in brain. Dr. Lamar has published extensively on brain-behavior profiles of risk and resilience to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and has received numerous honors and awards including Fellows status of the American Psychological Association and the Arthur Benton Award for Mid-Career Research from the International Neuropsychological Society.
Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center,
The Rush University Medical Center Institute for Minority Health