47. Biohack Your Brain with Dr. Kristen Willeumier

Kristen Willeumier, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist with research expertise in neurobiology and neuroimaging. Dr. Willeumier holds a B.A. degree in psychology from Boston College, M.S. degrees in physiological science and neurobiology, and a Ph.D. degree in neurobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She conducted her graduate work in the laboratory of neurophysiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the laboratory of neurogenetics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She was a postdoctoral scientist in the Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she continued her work in neurodegenerative disease, focusing on the molecular mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease. In recognition of her work at UCLA and Cedars- Sinai, she was the recipient of an NIH fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health. She has presented her work at national and international scientific meetings including the Society for Neuroscience and the Gordon Research Conference in Honk Kong, China.

More recently, Dr. Willeumier served as the Director of Neuroimaging and Clinical Research for the Amen Clinics, where she led the efforts to utilize imaging technologies to better understand the neurobiological issues underlying psychiatric disorders. In this capacity, she oversaw many pioneering studies, including a clinical research trial investigating the long-term effects of repetitive subconcussive impacts in National Football League players. Subsequent work focused on therapeutic approaches to rehabilitate brain function in athletes with mild traumatic brain injury and the application of machine learning algorithms to neuroimaging data to improve the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Dr. Willeumier is widely published and has co-authored over 70 scientific publications and abstracts in peer-reviewed journals including The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Nature Translational Psychiatry, The Journal of Neuroscience, and The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Areas of published research include traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, autism, biomarkers of suicide, obesity, gender differences in brain function, clinical outcomes, and brain rehabilitation.

Dr. Willeumier currently holds a position on the Scientific Advisory Board of Tate Technology, LLC, a Los Angeles-based sports safety and technology licensing company, and serves as a Scientific Advisor to the Addiction Medicine Institute in Newport Beach, CA, and the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Wellness Clinic Center for Neuroscience in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Willeumier is a leading advocate for brain health and wellness and a frequent contributor to top media outlets. She has been featured on Radio MD with Your Brain Health with Dr. Kristen Willeumier and the Salem Radio Network with Here’s To Your Health. She has appeared on Good Morning America (GMA3), Good Day LA KTTV-TV FOX Los Angeles, Good Day NY WNYW-TV FOX New York, FOX 32 Chicago, KMIR-TV NBC Palm Springs, KING5-TV CBS Seattle, KDVR-TV FOX Denver, WATN-TV ABC Memphis, WSFA-TV NBC Montgomery, KSWQ-TV FOX San Diego, Signal Boost with Zerlina Maxwell, Salem Radio, Coast-to-Coast, The Michael Savage Show, and on-line/print magazines including Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Shape, Science Times, Yahoo News, PopSugar, Niki Swift, HelloGiggles, Mind Body Green, Well+Good, Verywell Health and Psychology Today. She is the author of the new book Biohack Your Brain: How to Boost Cognitive Health, Proficiency & Power, published by the William Morrow imprint of HarperCollins.