I am a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Neuro-Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, USA since 2009, and am board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in Clinical Neuropsychology since 2012. I work with a team of other neuropsychologists, trainees, neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, and allied professions performing cognitive evaluations incorporating assessment of mood and quality of life. I also perform language mapping utilizing fMRI, and assist in intraoperative speech mapping. Like psycho-oncology, neuropsychology is a multidisciplinary area which shares overlapping interests with other clinical disciplines including psychology, psychiatry, and other allied fields. However, as a field there are relatively few neuropsychologists who specialize in oncology worldwide. I have a special interest in the reciprocal interaction of cognition, mood, and quality of life in cancer patients. While I am primarily a clinician with occasional participation in collaborative research, this past IPOS 2023 in Milan I presented my first IPOS poster which I completed with our Fellow Dr. Eschler, titled Understanding the prevalence and course of pre- and post-operative depression in brain tumor (BT) patients utilizing the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI). I am looking ahead and if successful hope to present a follow up poster at IPOS Maastricht 2024.  Something fun: In my spare time I love to grow grapes in my backyard and take wine classes. I hold a WSET Level II certification in wine. My husband and I are also avid MotoGP fans, which is not so common in the United States. We enjoy travelling to different wine regions and to MotoGP races.

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