Priscilla A. Amofa Sr., M.S., completed her undergraduate degree at Carleton College with a major in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. After graduation, she completed a 1-year service project as an AmeriCorp HealthVista for a local non-profit organization where she helped to improve and increase access to healthcare in the undeserved and uninsured community members. After her service, Priscilla took a clinical research coordinator position at the Alzheimer’s disease Center at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. In this position, she administered neurocognitive assessments, as well as recruited and enrolled participants from diverse backgrounds into dementia and Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials. She also worked under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Wilson where she looked at racial difference in patients with dementia. During this time, she also completed her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Roosevelt University. As part of her master’s program, she completed a one-year internship at an in-patient psychiatric ward at Rush Medical Center, Chicago. As an intern, she worked with older adults from diverse backgrounds with diagnosis of different neurological disorders and other psychiatric conditions. Priscilla entered the Clinical and Health Psychology program at the University of Florida in the fall of 2018, with a major area of study in Clinical Neuropsychology. With experience in working with diverse population and interest in behavioral interventions, Priscilla is currently interested in behavioral interventions as an alternative treatment to the delay and/or prevention of dementia among older adults with mild cognitive impairment. She is also interested in increasing minority representation in clinical research, particularly in persons with neurodegenerative disorders.
Publications
Amofa, P.A., Locke, D., Chandler, M., Crook, J.E., Ball, C.T., Phatak, V., & Smith, G. (2020). Comparative effectiveness of behavioral interventions to prevent or delay dementia: one-year partner outcome. (Manuscript accepted for publication). JPAD
Kurasz, A.M., DeFeis, B., Locke, D.E.C., De Wit, L., Amofa, P., Smith, G., Chandler, M. (2020). Psychometric properties of the self-efficacy for managing Mild Cognitive Impairment scale. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020 Aug 23. doi: 10.1002/gps.5411. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32830353
Amofa, P. A., De Wit, L., DeFeis, B., O’Shea, D., Mejia, A., Chandler, A., Locke, D., Fields, J., Phatak, V., Dean, P., & Smith, G. (2019). Functional ability levels are associated with higher adherence to behavioral interventions in multimodal studies among older adults with MCI. The Clinical Neuropsychologist. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2019.1672792
De Wit, L., Chandler, M., Amofa, P., DeFeis, B., Mejia, A., O’Shea, D., Locke, D., Fields, J., & Smith, G. (2019). Memory support system training in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Predictors of learning and adherence. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2019/1667833
Langer, K., O’Shea, D., De Wit, L., DeFeis, B., Mejia, A., Amofa, P. A., Chandler, A., Locke, D., Fields, J., Phatak, V., Dean, P., & Smith, G. (2019). Self-efficacy mediates the association between physical function and perceived quality of life in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-181020.
Wilson, R. S., Capuano, A. W., James, B. D., Amofa, P., Arvanitakis, Z., Shah, R., … Boyle, P. (2018). Purpose in Life and Hospitalization for Ambulatory Care-Sensitive Conditions in Old Age. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2017.06.022
Wilson, R. S., Rajan, K. B., Barnes, L. L., Jansen, W., Amofa, P., Weuve, J., & Evans, D. A. (2018). Terminal decline of episodic memory and perceptual speed in a biracial population. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2017.1306020
Wilson, R. S., Capuano, A. W., Marquez, D. X., Amofa, P., Barnes, L. L., & Bennett, D. A. (2015). Change in cognitive abilities in older latinos. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617715001058
Fellowships
Board of Education Summer Fellowship – Summer 2018
NIH ADRD T32 Training Fellowship – Spring 2020-Spring 2022