Alison R. Anderson

Alison R. Anderson, PhD, ANP-BC, NP-C is an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa's College of Nursing. Her research focuses on mechanisms linking sleep, dysglycemia, and pain in Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers. She develops clinical tools for pain risk assessment and opioid use, with expertise in neuroimaging and biomarker research.

• Education: PhD (Vanderbilt University), MSN (Vanderbilt University), Postdoc (Ohio State University)

Her work bridges clinical practice and research, emphasizing interventions to slow Alzheimer's progression. Key areas include caregiver-patient pain dynamics, hormonal biomarkers (cortisol/melatonin), and sleep quality's role in neurodegeneration. She has contributed to ASPMN pain assessment guidelines and pioneered dyadic cortisol measurement techniques.

Recent studies explore longitudinal sleep-pain-depression interactions in cognitively impaired adults and neuroimaging pain pathways in Alzheimer's patients. Her NIH-funded postdoctoral work advanced caregiving and biomarker methodologies.