Raymond Romano

Raymond Romano is a doctoral student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. His focus is in health services research, and his specific interests are in the detection, diagnosis, and care of dementia in the primary care setting, particularly early biomarkers of disease. His interest in dementia began during his undergraduate career at MMC in the laboratory of Dr. Ann Aguanno, where he studied the role of the protein Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 in insulin-related neurodegenerative diseases. He explored the molecular pathway hyperinsulinemia has on the aberrant behavior of CDK5 contributing to the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. After his undergraduate education, he received a Master in Public Health from Boston University and began working in clinical research at the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center. He moved to Nashville to join the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center. He completed the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program as a pre-specialty student in 2015 and is currently working as an FNP in primary care practice with the Metro Nashville Public School system and at the Gaylord Opryland Clinic. Particular studies he has worked on have focused on vascular health and Alzheimer’s disease pathology, subjective memory complaints, and barriers of minority groups to participate in research.