Margarita Padilla-Velez, Ph.D.
Sergievsky Center Postdoctoral Research Fellow
630 West 168th St, Box 16
New York, NY 10032
Phone: 212.305.2046
Fax: 212.342.1838
Email: mpv@sergievsky.cpmc.columbia.edu
Ongoing Research:
Bilingual Neuropsychology: Many neuropsychological instruments exist for use in English and Spanish-speaking populations, however, they are frequently plagued by non-systematic translations, few relevant norms, and questionable interpretation. One of my main research interests is the evaluation and development of valid neuropsychological instruments in Spanish. This includes translation and adaptation of existing instruments, as well as norming and validation of instruments. The methodology of instrument construction is also of interest to me, particularly item-response theory.
Neuropsychology and daily functioning: As immigration continues, medicine advances, and the proportion of elderly Hispanic adults increases, assessment of independent living skills in this population will become more and more important. Yet many clinicians do not include a formal test of independent living skills as part of a neuropsychological battery, and those who do rarely have an adequate Spanish-language instrument. Another goal of my research is to develop a measure of daily functioning for use with elderly Spanish-speaking immigrants who have little formal education. This test will focus on instrumental activities of daily living such as: bill-paying, self-care, meal preparation, etc. without requiring high level cognitive skills such as sophisticated verbal abstraction or geometry.
Representative Publications
Bisaga, A., Padilla, M., Garawi, F., Sullivan, M., Haney, M. (2006). Effects of alternative reinforcer and craving on the choice to smoke cigarettes in the laboratory. Human Pharmacology: Clinical and Experimental (in press).
Devanand, D., Michaels, K., Liu, X., Pelton, G. Padilla, M., Marder, K., Bell, K., Stern, Y., Mayeux, R. (2000). Olfactory deficits in patients with mild cognitive impairment predict Alzheimer’s disease at follow-up. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(9): 1399-1405.
Albert, S., Michaels, K., Padilla, M., Pelton, G., Bell, K. Marder, K., Stern, Y., Devanand, D. (1999). Functional significance of mild cognitive impairment in elderly patients without a diagnosis of dementia. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 7(3): 213-220.