Grace G
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV)
Expertise
research methods, conference presentations, clinical psychology, neuropsychology, basic statistics, basic coding in R, Alzheimer's disease research, concussion research
Bio
Hello! My name is Dr. Grace Goodwin. I received my PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with an emphasis in Clinical Neuropsychology. During my graduate training, I studied traumatic brain injury and sport-related concussion, examining how symptoms and cognitive recovery unfold after injury. I'm now a postdoctoral fellow specializing in Aging and Dementia, where my research uses network analysis and machine learning to better understand and distinguish conditions like Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia, with the goal of improving diagnosis and treatment. I'm passionate about making the field of neuropsychology more accessible, and I've spent several years working with organizations that introduce high school and undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds to careers in psychology and research. I love being outdoors, and you can usually find me mountain biking, rock climbing, or hiking on the weekends. I look forward to working with you!Project ideas
Understanding and Improving Concussion Reporting Among High School Athletes
Concussions are common in youth sports, but many athletes don't report their symptoms due to fear of losing playing time, uncertainty about what counts as a symptom, or team culture. This project would explore what drives concussion reporting among high school athletes. Students could design a short, anonymous survey on concussion knowledge, reporting likelihood, and barriers to reporting. Students could write up their findings as a research paper or translate their results into something directly useful for athletes, like an infographic or "know the signs" guide.
How Does Cognition Differ Between Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)
Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) affect memory, behavior, and cognition in distinct ways. This project would use data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC), a large, publicly accessible database, to compare cognitive performance between patients with Alzheimer's disease and those with FTD. Students would learn to navigate a real clinical dataset, select relevant variables, and run simple statistical comparisons (like a t-test) to see how the two groups differ on specific cognitive measures. Students could write up their findings as a research paper or develop a science fair presentation.