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1. 1. My early publications focused on the neuropsychological effects of manganese overexposure in humans. These found clear
relationships between occupational (among welders) exposure and motor and generalized cognitive effects. My dissertation
was part of a larger EPA-funded study looking into environmental exposure to manganese in citizens living near a smelting
plant. This mostly found effects of worry, but no clear relationship between exposure and neurocognitive dysfunction. 2. As a
co-investigator, I have been involved in research on dementia. I have done neuropsychological assessment and
patient/caretaker interviews for multiple drug trials for pharmaceuticals aimed at treating frontotemporal dementia, dementia
with Lewy bodies, and other illnesses. I have done additional research which I have presented at conferences and have papers
in progress, on multiple areas of cognitive assessment in dementia. This includes validation of a memory certainty scale,
validation of an expanded MMSE, evaluation of “conduction apraxia” in various dementing illnesses, and currently examining
cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and cognition. 3. I have also been involved as a primary investigator on multiple studies related
to assessment of cognition in temporal lobe epilepsy. This has resulted in several presentations at conferences. I have
contributed by conducting the first studies on use of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) in lateralization of
memory dysfunction and in prediction/evaluation of memory change after temporal lobe resection for epilepsy. I have also led
studies on clinical test utility in non-epilepsy populations, including use of Color Trails test in those with low
education/academic ability and use of a self-report validity measure in clinical neuropsychology patients.
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