Background
Rachael received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Neuroscience from Providence College in May of 2023. She worked as a research assistant and lab manager for the Neuroscience and Animal Cognition Lab at Providence College during her time at PC. She joined the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) and CTE Center at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine in June of 2023. Rachael is currently a clinical research assistant for the Clinical Core of the BU ADRC. She works primarily with the repetitive head injury cohort where she facilitates the recruitment and scheduling for various clinical studies including the Health Outreach Program for the Elderly (HOPE), the Study of Axonal and Vascular Effects from repetitive head impacts (SAVE), the Tau Agent for the NeurodeGenerative Lesion of CTE (TANGLE) study, and the ADRC Consortium for Clarity in ADRD Research Through Imaging (CLARiTI). Rachael conducts neuropsychological assessments, and performs interviews collecting medical, sport, and family history. She also coordinates structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans for the above studies.
She is interested in research related to finding biomarkers to diagnose CTE during life, specifically through imaging biomarkers such as MRI scans and PET imaging. Rachael is also interested in the intersection of Alzheimer’s disease and CTE disease pathology.