Christina Elizabeth Hugenschmidt, MS, PhD, LCMHC

Christina Hugenschmidt, MS, PhD, LCMHC, is a mental health counselor and neuroscientist. Her experiences in clinical practice led her to question how support groups can be used to improve brain health. She began working with the Memory Counseling Program (MCP) after joining Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine and the Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention at Health/Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem North Carolina in 2012 and was recently appointed MCP director following Dr. Shaw’s retirement. Her experiences leading and developing a support group for people with dementia have profoundly shaped how she views dementia and her research into how positive experiences like this group can support the well-being of people living with dementia and their care partners. Her research uses brain imaging to explore how common aging-related changes in the body, such as mobility, obesity and diabetes affect brain health, and how these effects on the brain can be modified by everyday lifestyle, like engaging in exercise and arts practices.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Christina Hugenschmidt has an employment relationship with Wake Forest School of Medicine. She is a reviewer for training grants with the American Federation for Aging Research. Christina Hugenschmidt receives a grants from the NIH/NIA. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Christina Hugenschmidt is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, the American Diabetes Association, the Gerontological Society of America, and the Obesity Society. She is a reviewer for several peer review journals, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc.