Speakers on May 4
Steven Austad, PhD
Protective Life Endowed Chair in Health Aging Research
Distinguished Professor
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Ron Cohen, PhD, ABBP
University of Florida
Kristina Visscher, PhD
Associate Director
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Bonnie Levin, PhD
University of Miami
Asta Håberg, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Matt Huentelman, PhD
Division Director and Professor, Neurogenomics Division
Translational Genomics Research Institute, part of City of Hope
Pamela Bowen, CRNP, PhD
University of Alabama at Birmingham
“Brain Health Advocacy Mission” (BHAM)
Heidi Hamann, PhD
Associate Head of Strategic Initiatives, Psychology
Associate Professor, Clinical
Director, Psychosocial Research in Oncology Lab
University of Arizona
George Howard, DrPH
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Steven Austad is a Distinguished Professor and the Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research in Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He is also Founding Director and current Co-director of UAB’s Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging and Senior Scientific Director of the New York-based American Federation for Aging Research. Read More
Director Ron Cohen, Ph.D., ABBP, is a professor of clinical health psychology and the Evelyn F. McKnight Chair for Clinical Translation in Cognitive Memory and Aging with an extensive background in neuroimaging and the neuroscience of attention-executive functions. He has a strong record of research involving the use of functional and structural neuroimaging methods in studies of age-related brain disorders and neurodegenerative brain disorders.
Kristina Visscher, Ph.D. became the Associate Director of the UAB MBI in January 2023. She is an Associate Professor in UAB’s Department of Neurobiology and Co-Director of the Civitan International Neuroimaging Lab at UAB. Read More
Dr. Bonnie Levin is the Alexandria and Bernard Schoninger Professor of Neurology and Director of the Division of Neuropsychology in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. She received her BS from Georgetown University and her PhD from Temple University. She completed an internship at the Boston Children’s Hospital where she was a clinical fellow in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an externship at the Boston VA Hospital. Read More
Medical doctor by education and PhD in medicine (dr.med.). Head of Trondheim fMRI group at NTNU, and the Norwegian National Advisory Unit for functional MRI at Department of Medical Imaging, St. Olav’s University Hospital. Head of Center of Innovative Ultrasound Solutions (CIUS), a Norwegian Research Council appointed Center for Research-based Innovation (SFI). Research interests: Medical imaging and spectroscopy plus cognition across the lifespan and in a variety of neurological/neurosurgical conditions.
Dr. Matt Huentelman is a Professor in the Neurogenomics Division at the non-profit Translational Genomics Research Institute (or “TGen”) in Phoenix, Arizona. His research interests center on the investigation of the molecular basis of human nervous system health and disease. The ultimate goal of his research is to personalize our medical approach to aging and enable an individualized optimization of brain health in order to facilitate successful cognitive aging. Read More
Dr Bowen is a certified family nurse practitioner and a nurse scientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing. Her research and community service interests are focused on increasing physical activity among vulnerable and marginalized populations to reduce obesity and its associated risk factors. Read More
Heidi A. Hamann, PhD is an Associate Professor and Associate Head for Strategic Initiatives in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona. Dr. Hamann also serves as the co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. As a clinical health psychologist and intervention scientist, Dr. Hamann's research addresses early detection and survivorship issues, especially among populations traditionally underrepresented in cancer control research. Read More
Dr. George Howard is a Distinguished Professor of Biostatistics at UAB. He received his training in biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has had experience in biostatistics, cerebrovascular/cardiovascular epidemiology, data management, and the direction of coordinating centers of multi-center studies. His career has a dual focus of observational studies cardiovascular epidemiology (with a recent focus to understand and reduce disparities in stroke and other cardiovascular diseases), and in the direction of coordinating centers for multi-center randomized clinical trials Read More
Fern Webb, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Co-Director, Center for Health Equity & Engagement Research (CHEER)
University of Florida
Fern Jureidini Webb is an African American woman of Jamaican ancestry whose personal lifelong experiences inform her commitment to conduct and implement health research that embodies community engagement research principles and health equity. Dr. Webb earned her PhD in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of South Florida (Tampa, 2001). Read More