Yakeel T. Quiroz, PhD
Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University
Director, Multicultural Alzheimer's Prevention Program, MAPP
Boston University
Dr. Quiroz is Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University, where she leads the Multicultural Alzheimer’s Prevention & Protection (MAPP) Lab.
She previously served as Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and spent over a decade at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) directing innovative clinical and research initiatives. Dr. Quiroz earned her MA in cognitive neuroscience and PhD in clinical psychology from Boston University and completed specialized postdoctoral training in neuropsychology and neuroimaging at MGH/Harvard Medical School.
Her research focuses on identifying early cognitive and biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease and uncovering mechanisms that support cognitive resilience and delay dementia onset. For over 20 years, she has studied Colombian families with early-onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease (ADAD) caused by mutations in the Presenilin-1(PSEN1) gene. With near-complete penetrance and symptom onset in the forties, these families offer a rare opportunity to track the biological trajectory of AD from preclinical to clinical stages—and to investigate protective mechanisms in individuals who remain cognitively resilient despite carrying the mutation.
Dr. Quiroz leads multiple NIH-funded studies, including the Colombia-Boston (COLBOS) biomarker study of autosomal-dominant Alzheimer’s disease, the Boston Latino Aging Study (BLAST), and the Healthy Aging and Resilient Brain Study on genetic modifiers of cognitive resilience. She is also a Co-Investigator on the Harvard Aging Brain Study (HABS) and the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC).
More on the Familial Dementia Neuroimaging Lab
Follow Dr Quiroz-Gaviria @ytquiroz
Publications
Major Research Interests: Sex Differences in Alzheimer's disease, Early onset dementi & the study of cognitive and brain changes that may predispose individuals to develop dementia later in life.
Clara Vila-Castelar,Pierre N. Tariot,Kaycee M. Sink,David Clayton,Jessica B. Langbaum,Ronald G. Thomas,Yinghua Chen,Yi Su,Kewei Chen,Nan Hu,Margarita Giraldo-Chica.Sex differences in cognitive resilience in preclinical autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease carriers and non-carriers: Baseline findings from the API ADAD Colombia Trial.First published: 01 February 2022 https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12552.
Mielke MM, Aggarwal NT, Vila-Castelar C, Agarwal P, Arenaza-Urquijo EM, Brett B, Brugulat-Serrat A, DuBose LE, Eikelboom WS, Flatt J, Foldi NS, Franzen S, Gilsanz P, Li W, McManus AJ, van Lent DM, Milani SA, Shaaban CE, Stites SD, Sundermann E, Suryadevara V, Trani JF, Turner AD, Vonk JMJ, Quiroz YT, Babulal GM; Diversity and Disparity Professional Interest Area Sex and Gender Special Interest Group. Consideration of sex and gender in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders from a global perspective. Alzheimers Dement. 2022 Apr 8. doi: 10.1002/alz.12662. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35394117
Raman R, Quiroz YT, Langford O, Choi J, Ritchie M, Baumgartner M, Rentz D, Aggarwal NT, Aisen P, Sperling R, Grill JD. Disparities by Race and Ethnicity Among Adults Recruited for a Preclinical Alzheimer Disease Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Jul 1;4(7):e2114364. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.14364. PMID: 34228129
Fox-Fuller JT, Artola A, Chen K, Pulsifer M, Ramirez D, Londono N, Aguirre-Acevedo DC, Vila-Castelar C, Baena A, Martinez J, Arboleda-Velasquez JF, Langbaum JB, Tariot PN, Reiman EM, Lopera F, Quiroz YT. Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities Among Children With the Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer Disease Presenilin 1 E280A Variant From a Colombian Cohort. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Aug 2;4(8):e2121697. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.21697. PMID: 34463747.
Examining Sex Differences in Markers of Cognition and Neurodegeneration in Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer's Disease: Preliminary Findings from the Colombian Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative Biomarker Study. Vila-Castelar C, Guzmán-Vélez E, Pardilla-Delgado E, Buckley RF, Bocanegra Y, Baena A, Fox-Fuller JT, Tirado V, Muñoz C, Giraldo M, Acosta-Baena N, Rios-Romenets S, Langbaum JB, Tariot PN, Lopera F, Reiman EM, Quiroz YT. J Alzheimers Dis. 2020;77(4):1743-1753. doi: 10.3233/JAD-200723. PMID: 32925067