Mirella Díaz-Santos
Mirella Díaz-Santos, Ph.D. is a Spanish-English bilingual and bicultural neuropsychologist and an Assistant Professor In-Residence in the Department of Neurology with a dual appointment with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine. Dr. Díaz-Santos is the director and founder of the “Equity for Latinx-Hispanic Healthy Aging (ELHA) Lab,” at UCLA Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Research and Care in Neurology, with a focus on prevention, and early detection/diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) in Latinx communities. Her area of expertise is the ADRD science of recruitment and retention by the implementation and sustainability of mixed-method Community Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR) interventions transforming healthcare systems and academic infrastructures equipped to foster ADRD research accessibility and inclusion in the areas of brain health prevention and early detection of ADRD.
She completed two post-doctoral fellowships at UCLA: a clinical neuropsychology fellowship from the Medical Psychological Assessment Clinical (MPAC)/Cultural Neuropsychology Program (CNP; now part of the Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence), and, a combined research fellowship with the Human Connectome Project – Aging, and the Depression Grand Challenge. Dr. Díaz-Santos is currently the chair of the mentoring and education committee from the Hispanic Neuropsychological Society (HNS), and an active member of UCLA’s Psychiatry Diversity Advisory Committee. Dr. Díaz-Santos completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, before moving to the States and receiving her doctoral degree in clinical psychology-neuropsychology from Boston University.
