Dawn J Mechanic-Hamilton, Ph.D., ABPP-CN
Associate Professor of Neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Clinical Director, Neuropsychological Services and Cognitive Fitness Program, Penn Memory Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Clinical Core Co-Lead, UPenn Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
AD/ADRD Pilot Core Co-Lead, PennAITech Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratory for Healthy Aging
Neuropsychology Division Chief, Neurology Department
Department: Neurology
Contact information
Penn Memory Center
Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, 2 South
3400 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, 2 South
3400 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-662-4516
Email:
dawn.mechanic@uphs.upenn.edu
dawn.mechanic@uphs.upenn.edu
Education:
B.A. (Psychobiology)
Wellesley College, 1998.
M.S. (Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology Concentration)
Drexel University, 2008.
Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology Concentration)
Drexel University, 2010.
Permanent linkB.A. (Psychobiology)
Wellesley College, 1998.
M.S. (Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology Concentration)
Drexel University, 2008.
Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology Concentration)
Drexel University, 2010.
Selected Publications
Li Y, Xie L, Khandelwal P, Wisse LEM, Brown CA, Prabhakaran K, Tisdall MD, Mechanic-Hamilton D, Detre JA, Das SR, Wolk DA, Yushkevich PA: Automatic Segmentation of Medial Temporal Lobe Subregions in Multi-Scanner, Multi-Modality Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Variable Quality. Hippocampus 35(6), November 2025.Sachs BC, Latham LA, Isom S, Clark LR, Craft S, Duff K, Espeland MA, Farias ST, Gaussoin SA, Goldstein FC, Hampstead BM, Jayadev S, Jicha GA, Kukull WA, Leng XI, Mechanic-Hamilton D, Neugroschl J, Papp KV, Saykin AJ, Sewell MC, Rapp SR: Multi-site video-based assessment with the NACC UDS-Version 3 battery: Design and participant experience in the V-Cog study. Alzheimer's & Dementia 21(10), October 2025.
Kim B, Blam K, Elser H, Xie SX, Van Deerlin VM, Penning TM, Weintraub D, Irwin DJ, Massimo LM, McMillan CT, Mechanic-Hamilton D, Wolk DA, Lee EB: Ambient Air Pollution and the Severity of Alzheimer Disease Neuropathology. JAMA Neurology September 2025.
Stites SD, Kuz C, Halberstadter K, Humphreys V, Cousins KAQ, Mechanic-Hamilton D: Societal Gender Norms and Their Influence on Late Life Cognition. Neurodegener Dis June 2025.
Halberstadter K, Humphreys V, Rovere R, Liebenberg E, Mechanic-Hamilton D: Technology Behaviors and Sentiments Among Cognitively Normal Older Adults using the Mobile Cognitive App Performance Platform. 53rd Annual Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society February 2025.
Stites SD, Kuz C, Halberstadter K, BS, Valerie Humphreys, MS, and Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, PhD: Childhood Caregiver Educational Attainment, Intergenerational Social Mobility and Alzheimer’s Risk. 53rd Annual Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society February 2025.
Herbst DA, Shakibajahromi B, Genuardi MV, Iyengar A, Mechanic-Hamilton D, Coslett HB, Atluri P, Favilla CG: Brain Atrophy in Heart Failure Patients Following Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation or Heart Transplantation. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation Open 7: 100211, January 2025 Notes: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlto.2025.100211.
Hackett K, Yidan S, Schankel L, Oliveira N, Kelley M, McCoubrey H, Manning Peskin S, O'Brien K, Xie SX, Wolk D, Mechanic-Hamilton D: Feasibility, validity, and normative data for the remote Uniform Data Set neuropsychological battery at the University of Pennsylvania Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring 16(4), December 2024.
Tackett WS, Mechanic-Hamilton D, Das S, Mojena M, Stein JM, Davis KA, Detre JA: Lateralization of memory function in temporal lobe epilepsy using scene memory fMRI. Epilepsia Open 9(6): 2487-2494, December 2024.
Kyra S. O’Brien, Dawn J. Mechanic-Hamilton, Katya Rascovsky, and Roy H. Hamilton: "Degenerative Disorders of Cognition" in "Achieving Equity in Neurological Practice" Springer. Bruce Ovbiagele, Sharon Lewis, Daniel José Correa, Reena Thomas, Larry Charleston (eds.). October 2024.