Bio: Brandon Gavett, Ph.D., ABPP-CN is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist. His work employs advanced psychometric methods (e.g., latent variable modeling, item response theory) and machine learning to promote our understanding of how cognitive abilities change during late life as a consequence of aging and neurodegenerative disease. His research interests include risk and resilience factors – such as cognitive reserve, brain reserve, and brain maintenance – with an emphasis on understanding how these traits are established and maintained throughout the lifespan. His work incorporates data relevant to cognitive functioning, neuroimaging, biomarkers, personality, lifestyle variables, and more. Underlying this work is an interest in understanding, characterizing, and ameliorating health disparities in cognitive aging that affect some racial and ethnic groups more than others.

Dr. Gavett’s research is conducted as part of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, one of approximately 30 NIH-funded ADRCs nationwide. The UC Davis ADRC has been continuously following study participants – in some cases, for more than 20 years – throughout older adulthood, collecting clinical, neuroimaging, and biomarker data relevant to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Links: UCD Profile: https://profiles.ucdavis.edu/brandon.gavett

UCD ADRC: https://health.ucdavis.edu/alzheimers-research/research-faculty