Sex differences in vascular and metabolic contributions to dementia

Seminar title: Sex differences in vascular and metabolic contributions to dementia

Speaker: Lisa Robison, Ph.D.

Department of Psychology

Stetson University

DeLand, FL

Broadly speaking, Dr. Robison’s research interests lie in determining how lifestyle factors affect brain health and influence the risk of diseases with a neurobiological basis, including neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Unfortunately, many of these diseases, such as addiction, stress- and mood-related disorders, and dementia, lack cures or even treatments that are universally highly effective. Therefore, investigation of these modifiable lifestyle factors is vital not only to determine if they can be used to prevent and/or treat brain-based diseases, but also how, as doing so may allow us to identify novel targets for treatment. Additionally, Dr. Robison is interested in identifying how biological factors, such as aging and an individual’s sex, may influence responses to lifestyle interventions. Many of the aforementioned conditions exhibit a sex bias, with females being more susceptible than males. This research may therefore help pave the way for sex-specific medicine. In this seminar, Dr. Robison will present her work exploring vascular and metabolic contributions to dementia in mouse models using behavior, neuroimaging, and molecular biology techniques.  

Host/Contact: Russ Ferland, PhD (rferland2@une.edu)