Shellie-Anne Levy, Ph.D.

Dr. Shellie-Anne Levy is an assistant professor and practicing clinical neuropsychologist in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions. She completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at UF. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology at Howard University and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Emory University.

Dr. Levy is an attending neuropsychologist within UF Health Psychology Specialties with a weekly outpatient clinic at The Normal Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases. She trains and supervises predoctoral students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows in the neuropsychological assessment of older adults within a cultural neuropsychology framework. Patients seen in her clinic are largely referred for differential dementia diagnosis (e.g., Alzheimer’s dementia, Lewy Body dementias, Frontotemporal Dementia, Vascular Dementia, etc.) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Other patient referrals include stroke, movement disorders, traumatic brain injury, and epilepsy. She supervises short-term cognitive rehabilitation therapies as well as psychological treatment of older adults with anxiety and mood disturbances. Dr. Levy is also the lead neuropsychologist who supervises trainees for the Neurocognitive Screening Initiative (NSI), a student-led monthly community clinic for individuals who are underserved and under-insured in Gainesville and the surrounding communities. Lastly, she co-leads a monthly Dementia Case Conference, a multidisciplinary collaboration with neurology, neuroradiology, and neuropsychology specialties.

Dr. Levy leads The Brain Health Equity and Dementia Prevention Lab (https://levy.chp.phhp.ufl.edu/). Her research program focuses on studying cognitive changes in older adults with MCI and neurodegenerative disorders (i.e., Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders). Broadly, her research goals are to better understand the health, psychosocial disparities, and resiliency factors that influence the onset, diagnosis, and treatment of these disorders in underserved populations in the context of a biopsychosocial-spiritual paradigm. Her work has spanned 1) examining behavioral/lifestyle interventions for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) that will improve functional outcomes in individuals at risk for progression to dementia, 2) elucidating barriers to participation in behavioral intervention research for MCI amongst minoritized communities, and 3) examining vascular-related health conditions and disparate cognitive aging outcomes in ethnoracially diverse populations. She has received funding from federal and non-profit organizations to support her work. She is also supported by the Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory and The McKnight Brain Institute.