I’m a current Clinical Psychology PhD student with a minor in Neuropsychology. Prior to joining the program, I spent two years at the University of Pittsburgh working on a clinical trial evaluating the effects of exercise on cognition in older adults. I then spent two years at the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Research Center where I conducted multifaceted assessments on individuals with and without various neurodegenerative diseases. At the University of Arizona, I work with Dr. Gene Alexander to investigate correlates of healthy and abnormal aging utilizing multi-method interventions and techniques.  

Research Interests: 

• Evaluating in vivo detection and diagnostic techniques in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
• Assessing and implementing preventative interventions to promote healthy aging, particularly with those at-risk for developing neurodegenerative diseases
• Applying multimodal approaches to understand the interplay between lifestyle factors, pathological neurodegeneration, and clinical disease progression

Selected Publications: 

• Frank, B.*, Ally, M.*, Brekke, B., Zetterberg, H., Blennow, K., Sugarman, M.A., Ashton, N.J., Karikari, T.K., Tripodis, Y., Martin, B., Palmisano, J.N., Steinberg, E.G., Simkin, I., Turk, K.W., Budson, A.E., O’Connor, M.K., Au, R., Goldstein, L.E., Jun, G.R., Kowall, N.W., Stein, T.D., McKee, A.C., Killiany, R., Qiu, W.Q., Stern, R.A., Mez, J., Alosco, M.L. (2021). Plasma p-tau181 shows stronger network association to Alzheimer’s disease dementia than neurofilament light and total tau. Alzheimer’s and Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12508.
• Frank, B., Ally, M., Tripodis, Y., Puzo, C., Labriola, C., Hurley, L., Martin, B., Palmisano, J.N., Chan, L., Steinberg, E.G., Turk, K., Budson, A.E., O’Connor, M.K., Au, R., Qiu, W.Q., Goldstein, L.E., Kukull, W., Kowall, N.W., Killiany, R., Stern, R.A., Stein, T.D., McKee, A.C., Mez, J., Alosco, M.L. (2022). Trajectories of cognitive decline in brain donors with autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer’s disease and cerebrovascular disease. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000200304.

Selected Presentations: 

• Ally, M., Zetterberg, H., Blennow, K., Ashton, N.J., Karikari, T.K., Aparicio, H., Sugarman, M.A., Frank, B.F., Tripodis, Y., McKee, A.C., Stein, T.D., Martin, B.,  Palmisano, J.N., Steinberg, E.G., Simkin, I., Farrer, L., Jun, G., Turk, K.W., Budson, A.E., O’Connor, M.K., Au, R., Qiu, W.Q., Goldstein, L.E., Killiany, R., Kowall, N.W., Stern, R.A., Mez, J., Alosco, M.L. (2023, February). Evaluating plasma GFAP for the detection of Alzheimer’s disease dementia. Paper presented at the International Neuropsychological Society, San Diego, CA.
• O’Shea, I.*, De Gaspari, G.*, Ally, M.*, Aparicio, H., Zetterberg, H., Blennow, K., Ashton, N.J., Karikari, T., Tripodis, Y., Frank, B., Martin, B., Palmisano, J.N., Steinberg, E.G., Turk, K., Budson, A.E., Kowall, N.W., Goldstein, L.E., Qiu, W.Q., Stein, T.D., McKee, A.C., Stern, R.A., Killiany, R., Mez, J., Alosco, M.L. (2022, April). Evaluating a panel of plasma biomarkers in reflecting white matter pathology on magnetic resonance imaging. Poster presented at the Carlos S. Kase Boston University Neurology Research Symposium, Boston, MA.

*Denotes shared first authors

Updated 03/14/23