Vonetta Dotson, PhD is a neuropsychologist, author, and speaker. Dr. Dotson received her BA in Psychology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio Texas, before completing her MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology in CHP in 2006. She went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Dotson was on faculty within CHP from 2009 to 2016. She is currently a tenured Professor at Georgia State University in the Department of Psychology and Gerontology Institute and a licensed psychologist in the state of Georgia.
Her career has focused on teaching, providing clinical care and conducting research related to brain health and aging. Her work is at the intersection of clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience, as she uses neuroimaging and behavioral techniques to understand positive (e.g., exercise) and negative (e.g., depression) modifiers of brain health in older adults, including health disparities in age-related cognitive and mood disorders.
Her work is primarily centered on the following three foci: (1) Cognitive and neuroimaging studies of late-life depressive disorders; (2) Exercise interventions to improve mood and brain functioning in older adults; and (3) Health disparities in age-related cognitive and mood disorders. This work is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Dr. Dotson is Senior Project Scientist for Behavioral Health at NASA, Founder and President of CerebroFit Integrated Brain Health and author of Keep Your Wits about You: The Science of Brain Maintenance as You Age. She was elected to Fellow status in the American Psychological Association Society for Clinical Neuropsychology in 2020.
Congratulations Dr. Dotson!