Diana Oviedo, PhD

Research Areas:

Cognition, aging, neurodegenerative diseases, neuropsychology, psychological processes, mental health.

Summary of CV:

Dr. Oviedo completed her B.A. in Psychology from the Santa María La Antigua University(USMA) (2009), a M.A. in Cognitive Neuropsychology (2009-2011), and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2012-2017). Her research is associated with studying cognition of older adults.
The main goal of her research is to analyze the different neuropsychological profiles associated to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in a Panamanian population over 60 years of age, thus determining the factors linked to MCI progression into AD. Additional to this, Dr. Oviedo is interested in the early  identification of cognitive symptoms and deficits, allowing for the development of appropriate therapeutic interventions.
Dr. Oviedo is currently collaborating and designing new lines of research about mental and cognitive health in older adults afflicted by different pathologies (HIV, COVID-19, etc). She has been the recipient of grants from Convocatorias I + D from the USMA. She is a member of the Panama Aging Research Initiative (PARI), and of the Ciencia en Panamá movement. Dr. Diana Oviedo is currently a USMA faculty member, research coordinator, and associated researcher of the School of Psychology.

Selected publications:

Torres-Atencio I, Carreira MB, Mendez A, Quintanero M, Broce A, Oviedo DC, Rangel G, Villarreal AE, Tratner AE, Rodríguez-Araña S, Britton GB. (2024). Polypharmacy and Associated Health Outcomes in the PARI-HD Study. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, doi:3233/JAD-231001.

Oviedo DC, Tratner AE, Pinzón MS, Rodríguez-Araña S, Pauli-Quirós E, Chavarría C, Posada Rodríguez C, Britton GB. (2023). Resilience mediates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in a sample of adults in Panama. Frontiers in Psychology. 14:1235935. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1235935

Britton GB, Urasa S, Huang LK, Villarreal AE, Levey A, Philippakis A, Hu CJ, Mushi D, Yang CC, Oviedo DC, Rangel G, Ho JS, Boshe J, Thompson L, Khemakhem M, Ross M, Carreira MB, Kim N, Joung P, Albastaki O, Kuo PC, Low S, Paddick SM, Kuan YC, Au R (in press). Digital phenotyping: An equal opportunity approach to reducing disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia research. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. 15(4): e12495. doi: 1002/dad2.12495.

Martinez C, Rubio E, & Oviedo D. (2023). Impacto de la pandemia por COVID-19 en la salud mental de personas con trastornos psiquiátricos. Revista De Iniciación Científica, 9(2), 105 -111. https://doi.org/10.33412/rev-ric.v9.2.3848

Palacios A, Pimentel M, Oviedo DC, & De León Sautú N. (2023). Descripción de una Muestra de Población Adulta con Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA) en Panamá. Investigación Y Pensamiento Crítico, 11(2), 31–49. https://doi.org/10.37387/ipc.v11i2.349.

Oviedo DC, Pinzón MS, Rodríguez-Araña S, Tratner AE, Pauli-Quirós E, Chavarría C, Posada Rodríguez C, Britton GB. (2022). Psychosocial response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Panama. Frontiers in Public Health: Public Mental Health. 10:919818. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.91981.

Gómez L, Álvarez Y, Pauli E, & Oviedo D. (2022). Efectos del acoso sexual callejero sobre el desarrollo del miedo y la ansiedad en mujeres entre los 20 y 30 años en Panamá. Revista De Iniciación Científica, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.33412/rev-ric.v8.1.3509.

Posada-Rodríguez C, Rodríguez-Araña S, Oviedo DC, Carreira MB, Flores-Cuadra JA, Villarreal AE, Rangel G, Britton GB. (2021). Depression Mediates the Association between Occupational Complexity and Late-Life Cognition in Hispanics. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports. Dec 21;5(1):881-886. doi: 10.3233/ADR-210040.

Oviedo DC, Perez-Lao AR, Villarreal AE, Carreira MB, Britton GB. (2021). The role of clinical researchers during COVID-19: balancing individual, scientific and social benefits of research. Frontiers in Public Health: Public Mental Health. 9:638964. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.638964.

Villarreal AE, Rangel G, Zhang X, Wong D, Britton GB, Fernández PL, Perez-Lao AR, Oviedo DC, et al. (2021). Performance of a point of care test for detecting IgM and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and seroprevalence in blood donors and health care workers in Panama. Frontiers in Medicine, section Infectious Diseases-Surveillance, Prevention and Treatment: 8:616106. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.616106.

Current Projects:

  1. “Pilot study on the effect of cognitive and physical interventions in elderly adults in Panama”. Entities: USMA, INDICASAT AIP.
  2. “Evaluation of a cognitive and physical intervention program in elderly adults in Panama during 2023 and 2024”. Entities: USMA, INDICASAT AIP.
  3. “Determination of risk factors, neuropsychiatric and cognitive changes in elderly adults recovered from COVID-19”. Entities: INDICASAT AIP, CSS, USMA.
  4. “Psychological implications in the process of mourning for people who lost their loved ones to COVID-19 between March and December 2020”. Entities: USMA, INDICASAT AIP.
  5. “Evaluation of cognitive impairment in HIV-positive Panamanian adults with the use of cognitive tests and biomarkers”. Entities: INDICASAT AIP, USMA, GORGAS.
  6. “Prevalence of neuropsychiatric findings in SARS-CoV2+ patients who required in-hospital management in the Caja de Seguro Social in the Republic of Panama between June 2020 and June 2021”. Entities: CSS, INDICASAT AIP, USMA.
  7. “Prospective cohort study to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers for mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease in older Panamanian adults”. Entities: INDICASAT AIP, USMA, CSS, UNTHSC, Hospital Paitilla, Hospital Gustavo Nelson Collado.
  8. “Association of pathogen infection and cognitive function in older adults from Panama”. Entities: INDICASAT AIP, USMA.
  9. “Prospective cohort study to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of blood biomarkers of mild cognitive impairment and progression to Alzheimer’s disease.” Entities: INDICASAT, CSS, UNTHSC, USMA.
  10. “Prospective cohort study to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of blood biomarkers of mild cognitive impairment and progression to Alzheimer’s disease.” Entities: INDICASAT, CSS, UNTHSC, USMA.

Diana Oviedo

Diana Oviedo, PhD

Highest degree of studies: Ph.D., Neurociencias. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España 2017.

Category: Researcher

National Research System Level (SNI):  National Researcher Level 2

ORCID 

Instagram: @memoriaysalud