Rhoda Au, Ph.D.


Rhoda Au, Ph.D.
Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Neurology, Medicine, and Epidemiology
Phone: (617) 358-0089
Email: rhodaau@bu.edu
Location: Housman (R building)

Education

PhD, University of California, Riverside
MBA, Boston University
BA, Pomona College

Biography and Research Interests

Rhoda Au, PhD, is a Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health, and Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, with additional appointments in Neurology and Medicine at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University. She serves as co-PI of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) Brain Aging Program and Director of Neuropsychology. Au is also currently serving as Director of Global Cohort Development for the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative.

Her core research interest is leveraging technological advances through the development of a multi-sensory brain health monitoring platform that is customizable, flexibly responsive to the rapidly changing technology landscape, technology agnostic, and scalable. Further, a priority objective is transitioning from reliance on active engagement technologies to low/no engagement ones. Au proactively supports broad data sharing initiatives to accelerate data science/AI driven discovery and validation of digital biomarkers, novel disease pathways and treatment solutions. Her strategic research plan is to move from a primary focus on precision AD medicine to a broader emphasis on precision brain health. Her multi-sector approach is creating both disruptive science and new IP that will catalyze new directions for research and opportunities for business investments.

Dr. Au’s additional research interests are focused on aging and dementia, and include relating cardiovascular and other health related risk factors, brain MRI measures, and neuropathology to cognitive performance.

Selected Publications

    1. Adra N, Dümmer LW, Paixao L, Tesh RA, Sun H, Ganglberger W, Westmeijer M, Da Silva Cardoso M, Kumar A, Ye E, Henry J, Cash SS, Kitchener E, Leveroni CL, Au R, Rosand J, Salinas J, Lam AD, Thomas RJ, Westover MB. Decoding information about cognitive health from the brainwaves of sleep. Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 15; 13(1):11448. PMID: 37454163; PMCID: PMC10349883; DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37128-7;
    2. Kim H, Ang TFA, Thomas RJ, Lyons MJ, Au R. Long-term blood pressure patterns in midlife and dementia in later life: Findings from the Framingham Heart Study. Alzheimers Dement. 2023 Jul 02.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37394941
    3. Kang M, Ang TFA, Devine SA, Sherva R, Mukherjee S, Trittschuh EH, Gibbons LE, Scollard P, Lee M, Choi SE, Klinedinst B, Nakano C, Dumitrescu LC, Durant A, Hohman TJ, Cuccaro ML, Saykin AJ, Kukull WA, Bennett DA, Wang LS, Mayeux RP, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Schellenberg GD, Crane PK, Au R, Lunetta KL, Mez JB, Farrer LA. A genome-wide search for pleiotropy in more than 100,000 harmonized longitudinal cognitive domain scores. Mol Neurodegener. 2023 Jun 22; 18(1):40.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37349795; PMCID: PMC10286470; DOI: 10.1186/s13024-023-00633-4;
    4. Scollard P, Choi SE, Lee ML, Mukherjee S, Trittschuh EH, Sanders RE, Gibbons LE, Joshi P, Devine S, Au R, Dams-O’Connor K, Saykin AJ, Seshadri S, Beiser A, Aparicio HJ, Salinas J, Gonzales MM, Pase MP, Ghosh S, Finney R, Mez J, Crane PK. Ceiling effects and differential measurement precision across calibrated cognitive scores in the Framingham Study. Neuropsychology. 2023 May; 37(4):383-397.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37276135; PMCID: PMC10247160; DOI: 10.1037/neu0000828;
    5. Yang J, Ang TFA, Lu S, Liu X, Devine S, Au R, Liu C. Establishing cognitive baseline in three generations: Framingham Heart Study. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2023; 15(1):e12416.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36968621; PMCID: PMC10038074; DOI: 10.1002/dad2.12416;
    6. Yang J, Ang TFA, Lu S, Liu X, Devine S, Au R, Liu C. Establishing cognitive baseline in three generations: Framingham Heart Study. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2023; 15(1):e12416.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36968621; PMCID: PMC10038074; DOI: 10.1002/dad2.12416;
    7. Yuan J, Liu X, Liu C, Ang AF, Massaro J, Devine SA, Auerbach SH, Blusztajn JK, Au R, Jacques PF. Is dietary choline intake related to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease risks? Results from the Framingham Heart Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 Nov; 116(5):1201-1207.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37208066; PMCID: PMC9630864; DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac193;
    8. Hwang PH, Ang TFA, De Anda-Duran I, Liu X, Liu Y, Gurnani A, Mez J, Auerbach S, Joshi P, Yuan J, Devine S, Au R, Liu C. Examination of potentially modifiable dementia risk factors across the adult life course: The Framingham Heart Study. Alzheimers Dement. 2023 Jul; 19(7):2975-2983.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36656649; PMCID: PMC10354206; DOI: 10.1002/alz.12940;
    9. Wang Y, Huang J, Ang TFA, Zhu Y, Tao Q, Mez J, Alosco M, Denis GV, Belkina A, Gurnani A, Ross M, Gong B, Han J, Lunetta KL, Stein TD, Au R, Farrer LA, Zhang X, Qiu WQ. Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. medRxiv. 2023 Jan 18.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36711847; PMCID: PMC9882408; DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.16.23284571;