Dominique Popescu, PhD

Dominique Popescu, PhD is dedicated to promoting brain health across the lifespan and preventing brain disease towards achieving equitable aging outcomes among all. Dr. Popescu holds a PhD in Integrative Neuroscience from Stony Brook University. Here, she quantified the benefits of cardiovascular exercise and of an engaging environment on physiology, behavior, and amyloid pathology among rodent models of cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Her post-doctoral training at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University focused on characterizing retinal imaging markers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology and their association with cognitive performance in participants across disease stages. She also investigated the effects of disclosing AD genetic risk information and amyloid PET results to individuals with a family history of cognitive decline, confirming the safety and tolerance of such disclosures. Currently Dr. Popescu is a Research Fellow at the Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research. With the guidance of Dr. Ana-Maria Vranceanu and Dr. Ryan Mace, she is investigating the biopsychosocial determinants impacting recovery among stroke survivors. Her project, funded by the American Brain Foundation, will inform the development of a community-based program to reduce the risk of brain disease among Black Americans living in the Greater Boston area.