Dr. Mónica Rosselli
Monday, Jun 01, 2020
Dr. Mónica Rosselli, Professor and Associate Chair of FAU’s Department of Psychology is a neuropsychologist dedicated to researching Alzheimer’s Disease, particularly in understanding cultural and linguistic variables that influence the onset of dementia in patients.
Dr. Rosselli, who has been at FAU since 1996, is also the Director of FAU’s Neuropsychology Lab at the Davie campus where she specializes in teaching graduate and undergraduate students the brain mechanisms of cognitive processes.
“Nothing makes me happier than attending my doctoral students’ graduation ceremony,” Dr. Rosselli said. “Particularly when I place the doctoral hood over the head of my graduate student, signifying his or her success in completing the doctoral program. These have always been such happy moments for the students, for the students’ family, and for me.”
Dr. Rosselli, who was born in Bogotá, Colombia and lives in Miami, counts her parents as her sources of inspiration. “My parents have been “ejemplos de vida” (life examples). My mother, who raised nine children as she was completing her psychology degree, showed me that it is possible to simultaneously be a caring mother, a loving wife, and a successful professional. My father, a neurologist, shared with me his fascination for the mysteries of the brain. I admired his wisdom, humbleness, and charismatic personality. Both parents taught me to work hard, to have an optimistic vision of life and to enjoy nature.”
In addition to enjoying nature, Dr. Rosselli also enjoys tennis, traveling, and movies during her rare moments of spare time.
Dr. Rosselli is a recipient of a $235,019 grant from the Florida Department of Health for Alzheimer’s research for her study, “Neuroimaging and Sensitive Novel Cognitive Measures in Detection of Early Alzheimer's Disease in Bilingual and Monolingual Hispanic Americans.” Her research examines whether people at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease have less severe memory loss through the practice of speaking, reading, and writing two languages.
The study is being done in collaboration with the 1Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, the University of Miami, the Mount Sinai Medical Center, and the University of Florida,” said Rosselli, who received funding in May 2019. The study began in June 2019 and will resume when the Covid-19 pandemic is over.
