Alexandra L. Clark, PhD

Expert Guest Speaker

Dr. Clark is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Polytrauma Rehabilitation Postdoctoral Fellow at the San Diego Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital/University of California San Diego.

Dr. Clark received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Neuropsychology from the San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program and has received research funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and American Psychological Association.

Her research centers around Veterans with history of TBI and/or posttraumatic stress disorder and largely entails:

(1) Characterizing the structural and functional brain changes associated with TBI utilizing sophisticated neuroimaging methods (e.g., diffusion tensor imaging, arterial spin labeling)

(2) Understanding the temporal course of brain changes and factors that mediate/moderate the neural response to head trauma

(3) Exploring mechanisms underlying the poor long-term outcomes and increased risk for dementia following TBI, and

(4) Translating animal models of disease states to human clinical studies

Dr. Clark is currently working on several projects that explore how blood-brain-barrier dysfunction and neuroinflammation underlie poor cognitive, affective, and functional outcomes following TBI.

Dr. Clark’s clinical work includes conducting neuropsychological assessments across a broad range of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, TBI, stroke) at VA and university outpatient clinics. She is responsible for directly assessing patients, communicating with other medical professionals, and supervising doctoral and medical students.