Dr. Caterina Rosano, MD, MPH

I am a physician-scientist specializing in
Population Neuroscience of aging.  My research group eBRAIN has made
significant discoveries into the neurobiological drivers of successful aging. Although
older age is typically associated with a seemingly inevitable performance
decline, we have evidence that some older adults appear resistant and resilient
to the effect of aging.  Based on our
discoveries, we believe that there are distinct neurobiological characteristics
that can explain why some people age better than others and why some people respond
to treatment better than others. We also believe that enhancing these
neurobiological drivers of resilience can enhance function.    My work leverages the most recent
methodologies of CNS assessment to   “virtually” dissect the brain in vivo   using
very powerful and novel magnet resonance imaging. My research inquiries are
conducted in the context of carefully designed epidemiological studies. The combination
of neuroscience and population science is critical to capture the complex
relationships between the heterogeneity of the individuals on the
manifestations of the disease. We find that the “neurobiological drivers of
resilience” appear related to   microstructural integrity of brain connections,
small vessle and dopaminergic signaling. 
These findings are very important, because such resilience factors are modifiable.
For example, we have shown that   lower and stable levels of inflammatory
markers and blood pressure are critically important for preservation of brain integrity
in older age. Information on our work and that of our trainees can be found at https://www.facebook.com/e.brain.pitt/

Courses:

I have a long standing interest in understanding how the brain adapts to the “normal” processes of aging and disease. This is based on the peculiar observation that some individuals age well, while others decline very rapidly. I am specifically interested in understanding the causes, biomarkers and consequences of brain aging. My goal is to identify the modifiers of brain function and structure and their implications to promote survival free of physical disability and dementia. My research approach is grounded on the application of cutting-edge methods of neuroimaging and clinical measures to epidemiological cohorts’ and randomized clinical trials studies. The application of the most advanced neuroimaging technology to large epidemiological studies of aging makes my research most innovative and of great potential impact. Collectively, my studies constitute a unique and novel resource comprising large datasets of detailed brain and functional markers from several hundreds of individuals. I expect that these data will augment our understanding of brain aging and that they will contribute to the discovery of new approaches to the promotion of survival free from disabilities.

Principle Investigator: 

·   NIDDK: Retinal Imaging Markers of Cognition in Adults with T1D

·    NIA: Pittsburgh Older American Independence Center (PI of Integrated Systems Core)

·    NIA: Ultra-high-field neuroimaging in elderly after a two-year exercise intervention

 Co-Investigator:

 ·      NIDDK: Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications (EDC) Phase II (PI: Trevor J. Orchard, Epidemiology)

·      NHLBI:  Neurovascular Determinants of Cognitive Function in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease (PI: Enrico Novelli)

·       NIMH: High Performance Imaging for Assessment of Small Vessel Disease in Older Adults with Depression (PI: Howard Aizenstein)

·       NIA: Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Prospective Community Study (PI: Mary Ganguli)

·      NIA: Cognitive Decline, Brain Aging, Physical Environment, and Mobility (PI: Andrea Rosso)

·       DiaComp Coor. And Bioinformatics Unit (CBU) at the Georgia Regents University: Retinal imaging biomarkers of worsening microvascular complications in type 1 diabetes (PI: Karen Nunley)

Neuroepidemiology

Disability

Gerontology

Aging

Neuroimaging

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1-qIkh5_6uq5h/bibliography/45623751/public/?sort=date&direction=descending