Vicki Nejtek

Vicki Nejtek, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Neuroscience at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC). She is also a member of the College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences and the Institute for Healthy Aging. Her research focuses on understanding treatment responses in individuals with mild brain trauma, mood disorders, medical diseases, and addiction, with an emphasis on identifying biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

• Education: BA in Psychology, MS in Cognitive Neuroscience, and PhD in Cognition Behavioral Neuroscience, all from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Her research interests include longitudinal outcomes research, biomarker studies, community-based program effectiveness, and treatment response analysis in populations such as veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), individuals with co-occurring disorders, and at-risk children. She has led over 17 sponsored projects, including evaluations of substance abuse prevention programs and studies on veterans’ healthcare outcomes.

Her recent publications explore topics such as cognitive deficits in Parkinson’s disease models, methamphetamine neurotoxicity, and healthcare utilization in vulnerable populations. She has held grants from organizations like the Recovery Resource Council and UNTHSC’s Intramural Research Program.

Dr. Nejtek’s work bridges clinical and translational research, aiming to improve healthcare strategies for high-risk groups and advance understanding of neurodegenerative disease mechanisms.