Katherine Kitchens

Katherine Kitchens is a licensed social worker and early-stage investigator at the Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Her research focuses on cognitive impairment in rural populations, emphasizing biologically informed, exposure-specific mechanisms through gene–environment interaction frameworks.

• Role: Program Director at Agape Clinic (Dallas)
• Methodology: Combines symptom-based case definitions, cognitive screening, and population-based epidemiology
• Approach: Community-engaged model for rural cohort infrastructure development

Her translational work embeds data collection within community-based cognitive screening and brain health education initiatives, addressing immediate rural healthcare access challenges while advancing mechanistic understanding of cognitive decline.