Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton

Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, PhD, ABPP/CN, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. She serves as Chief of the Division of Neuropsychology and Director of Cognitive Fitness Programs at the Penn Memory Center. Dr. Mechanic-Hamilton co-leads the Clinical Core in Penn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the ADRD Pilot Core for the Penn AI and Technology Collaboratory for Healthy Aging (PennAITech). She also supervises pre- and postdoctoral clinical neuropsychology trainees as Associate Director of Penn's Psychology Internship Training Program.

Her research focuses on:

• Developing digital cognitive tasks for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease
• Behavioral interventions for cognitive impairment
• Social determinants of health in cognitive aging
• App-based tools to enhance goal-directed behavior in dementia

Her recent publications emphasize digital neuropsychology, biomarker validation, health disparities, and mobile interventions. She has pioneered remote cognitive assessments and studies on socioeconomic impacts in neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Mechanic-Hamilton supervises trainees through Penn's neuropsychology programs and leads multidisciplinary teams investigating dementia diagnostics and interventions.