Amarilis Acevedo, PhD, completed a doctoral degree in physiological psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1989. After teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in physiological psychology and related fields for several years, Dr. Acevedo respecialized in clinical psychology at the University of Hawaii. She then completed a neuropsychology internship at the Boston V.A. Medical Center in 1997. In 1998, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in forensic neuropsychology in the Department of Neurology of the University of Miami School of Medicine. Dr. Acevedo has been licensed as a psychologist in the State of Florida since 1998. She became board certified in clinical neuropsychology in 2000. Dr. Acevedo has been a coinvestigator in several research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging. She has published in peer reviewed journals in areas related to early prediction of cognitive decline in English- and Spanish-speaking elders, cognitive interventions in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and the development of new tests to identify early memory loss among the elderly. One of her areas of expertise, and the subject of several of her scientific publications, book chapters, professional presentations, and interviews on radio and television, is the cognitive assessment of individuals of heterogeneous ethno-cultural/linguistic backgrounds and the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
Raymond Ownby is a professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Nova Southeastern University where he is also a professor in the Public Health and Biomedical Informatics Programs. Dr. Ownby completed his undergraduate education at Ohio University where he was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa, and completed his medical education at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He has been selected for inclusion in Best Doctors in America and is board certified in adult psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, clinical neuropsychology, and neuropsychiatry. he has published more than 200 research articles and has been the recipient of several research grants from the National Institutes of Health. He was awarded the NSU Provost’s Research Award in 2014. His current research includes two projects funded by the National Institutes of Health. These include the development of a mobile app targeting older individuals with low health literacy, and is designed to help them improve their ability to manage chronic health conditions. The other project investigates whether the use of transcranial direct current stimulation in combination with computer-based cognitive training can improve cognitive problems in persons 50 years of age and older with HIV infection.
Mapopa William Sanga obtained his PhD in instructional design and technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2011. Since 2013, he has been working as and associate professor and teaching and learning coordinator at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in the United States.
Drenna Waldrop-Valverde is a licensed psychologist with specialized training in neuropsychology. She has been principal investigator on four NIH grants (R03 MH074664, R21 MH084814, R01 DA18066, R01 MH092286) in the area of cognition and HIV/ AIDS and has led and collaborated on numerous studies investigating the neurocognitive and psychosocial antecedents and consequences of self-management of HIV infection for nearly 15 years. Her program of research has helped to disentangle the role cognitive impairment plays in medication management and adherence in HIV/AIDS. Dr. Waldrop-Valverde’s research was among the first to identify HIV associated neurocognitive impairment as a risk for nonadherence to HIV medications and to further convey the compounding risks of low health literacy and cognitive impairment on nonadherence to HIV treatment. She has helped to expand our understanding of health literacy by demonstrating essential, underlying skills necessary to be health literate.
