Education

• B.A. Psychology  Florida International University  2002
• M.S. Clinical Psychology   Nova Southeastern University  2010
• Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology Concentration   Nova Southeastern University  2013

Background

Google Scholar profile

Positions

• Grant reviewer, NIH/ National Institute on Aging (NIA) Career Development–2 Standing Review Committee 2021– present.
• Associate Professor, Albizu University, Miami, FL 2020 — 2022
• Assistant Professor, Albizu University, Miami, FL 2015 — 2020
• Clinical Supervisor/Clinical Neuropsychologist, Goodman Center for Psychological Services, Miami, FL 2015 – 2020
• Neuropsychology Post–Doctoral Fellow, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA 2013 – 2015
• Health Psychology Clinical Intern, Broward Health Medical Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 2012 – 2013

Grants/Awards

• National Institute on Aging (NIA) Butler–Williams Scholars Program, 2021
• National Institute of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Program (LRP), 2020–2022
• Florida Department of Health, Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer's Disease Program. Grant #: 20A13; Role: PI, 2020–2022 Project Title: Relationship between functional measures, cognitive performance and AD biomarkers between Hispanic and White Non–Hispanic Older adults
• 1Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) AlzSTARZ Career Development Award; Role: PI. 2018–2020 Project Title: The influence of acculturation, test taking effort, and education on cognitive performance among Hispanics with MCI and dementia.
• Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) pilot grant. Grant #: P50 AG047266; Role: PI. 2017–2018
Project Title: Cultural factors related to cognition and brain atrophy in Hispanic older adults
• Robert Shapiro Research Scholarship Award. 2012

Scholarly Interest

Dr. Rodriguez's research focus is on Hispanic older adults at risk for developing dementia and on identifying cultural factors that contribute to cognitive decline, neurodegeneration, risk/protection against developing dementia, and the caregiver experience among Hispanic families. She has used neuroimaging measures to distinguish between dementia types and early/prodromal stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and has identified sensitive measures of cognition among Hispanic populations.

Selected Publications

Articles

Rodriguez, M.J., Potter, E., Shen, Q., Barker, W., Agron, J., Greig-Custo, M., Loewenstein, D., & Duara, R. (2012). Cognitive and structural features of Lewy Body dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Alzhiemers and Dementia, 8(3), 211-218. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.04.008

Burke, S., Rodriguez, M., Barker, W., Greig-Custo, M., Rosselli, M., Loewenstein, D., & Duara, R. (2017). Relationship between cognitive performance and measures of neurodegeneration among Hispanic and White non-Hispanic individuals with normal cognition, Mild cognitive Impairment, and dementia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (JINS). 24(2),176-187. doi: 10.1017/S1355617717000820.

Burke, S., Hu, T., Fava, N., Li, T., Rodriguez, M., Schuldiner, K., Burgess, A., & Laird, A. (2018). Sex differences in the development of mild cognitive impairment and probable Alzheimer's disease as predicted by hippocampal volume or white matter hyperintensities. Journal of Women & Aging, 30(6) [Epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1080/08952841.2018.1419476.

Burke, S., Naseh, M., Rodriguez, M., Burgess, A., & Loewenstein, D. (2019). Dementia-Related Neuropsychological Testing Considerations in Non-Hispanic White and Latino/Hispanic Populations. Psychology and Neuroscience, 23(3), 144-168. Doi: 10.1037/pne0000163

Burke, S., Grudzien, A., Burgess, A.,Rodriguez, M.J., Rivera, Y., & Loewenstein, D. (2020). The utility of cognitive screeners in the detection of dementia-spectrum disorders in Spanish-speaking populations. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, April 21, doi: 10.1177/0891988720915513

Rodriguez, M.J., Mendoza, L., Rodriguez, I., Roselli, M., Loewenstein, D., Burke, S., Orozco, A., & Duara, R. (2020). Cultural factors related to neuropsychological performance and brain atrophy among Hispanic older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 12(1),1-9. doi: 10.1080/23279095.2020.1761368

Mendoza, L., Garcia, P., Duara, R., Rosselli, M., Loewenstein, D., Greig-Custo, M., Barker, W., Dahlin, P., & Rodriguez, M.J. (2020). The effect of acculturation on cognitive performance among older Hispanics in the United States. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2020.1725888

Barker, W., Quinonez, C., Greig, M.T., Behar, R., Chirinos, C., Rodriguez, R., Rosselli, M., Rodriguez, M.J. Curiel, R.C., Rundek, T., McFarland, K., Hanson, K., Smith, G., DeKosky, S., Vaillancourt, D., Adjouadi, M., Marsiske, M., Ertuken-Taner, N., Golde, T., Loewenstein, D., & Duara, R. (2021). Utility of Plasma Neurofilament Light in the 1Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC). Journal of Alzheimer

Torres, V., Rosselli, M., Loewenstein, D., Lang, M., Velez-Uribe, I., Arruda, F., Conniff, J., Curiel, R., Greig, M.T., Barker, W.W., Rodriguez, M.J., Adjouadi, M., Vaillaincourt, D., Bauer, R., & Duara, R. (In press) The Contribution of Bilingualism to Cognitive Functioning and Regional Brain Volume in Normal and Abnormal Aging. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 25, 337 –356. Doi: 10.1017/S1366728921000705 Arango-Lasprilla, J.C., Watson, J.D.,Rodriguez, M.J., Ramos-Usuga, D., Mascialino, G., & Perrin, P.B. (in press). Employment probability trajectories in Hispanics over the 10 years after Traumatic Brain Injury: A model systems study. Neurorehabilitation.

Rodriguez, M.J., Burke, S., Padron, D., Duarte, A., Roselli, M., Grieg-Custo, M., Grudzien, A., Loewenstein, D., & Duara, R. (in press). Associations between country where education is obtained and cognitive functioning among older adults at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology.