K23 Awardee: Edmarie Guzmán-Vélez
Dr. Edmarie Guzmán-Vélez was awarded a mentored patient-oriented research center development award (K23) from the National Institute on Aging in the summer of 2019. She will use state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques (e.g. MRI, PET), cognitive assessments, and gold-standard measures of aerobic fitness to characterize baseline and longitudinal relationships between aerobic fitness, markers of AD-pathology (e.g. amyloid and tau), network connectivity, and cognitive decline, as well as the potential moderating role of neuroinflammation, in a unique group of individuals with autosomal-dominant Alzheimer’s disease due to a PSEN1 E280A mutation. In addition to working with the MAPP, Dr. Guzmán-Vélez will be co-mentored by Arthur F. Kramer from Northeastern University. She will also work closely with Drs. Steven E. Arnold from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS), J. Andrew Taylor from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and HMS, Deborah Blacker from MGH and the Harvard School of Public Health, and Reisa Sperling from MGH and the Brigham and Women Hospital. This award will support her research for five years and will provide the training that she needs to successfully transition to an independent academic position.
Congrats, Edma!