Roles
- Professor of Neurology
- Evelyn F. McKnight Chair for Learning and Memory in Aging
- Scientific Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute
- Executive Vice Chair of Research and Faculty Affairs, Neurology
- Director, Clinical and Translational Research Division
- Director, Master of Science in Clinical Translational Investigations
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Biography
Dr. Rundek is a Professor of Neurology, Executive Vice Chair of Research and Faculty Affairs and Director of Clinical Translational Research Division in the Department of Neurology of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is Scientific Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Miami. She is also Director of a Master of Science degree in Clinical Translational Investigation and Director of the KL2 mentored career development research training program at the Miami Clinical Translational Science Institute.
Dr. Rundek is a vascular neurologist, clinical researcher and a leader of several NIH-funded projects and programs on determinants of stroke, age-related memory loss and cognitive decline, and brain health. Dr. Rundek completed a neurology and research fellowship at Columbia University in the City of New York. Dr. Rundek was the first Fulbright Scholar at the Neurological Institute of Columbia University, NY.
Dr. Rundek is a productive and collaborative investigator with over 500 peer reviewed publications, editorials, and book chapters. She has extensive research collaborations with multiple national and international research teams, including investigators from Columbia University on large NIH-funded population-based studies of age-related neurovascular disease (NOMAS, INVEST, CABLE, PHPT, eMERGE) and Albert Einstein in the Bronx (Einstein Aging Study) on vascular cognitive decline and dementia. She serves as a team scientist-leader of large international stroke and aging projects and consortia including NIA Precision Aging Network.
Dr. Rundek is a dedicated clinician scientist, educator, and mentor, who continues to lead local and national research, educational and mentorship programs. She serves as Training Director of two large NINDS-funded clinical trial networks, StrokeNet and NeuroNEXT, and of NIA OneFL Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (1FL ADRC). She was a recipient of an AHA Mentor award and an NIH K24 research training and career development grant.
Dr. Rundek has been an active member of a broader scientific community. She is a Section Editor of Stroke for Brain Health and serves on the Editorial Boards of several influential scientific journals including Neurology, Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, and Cerebrovascular Diseases. She also serves on the NIH and other professional organization review study sections. She is a fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA). She is currently President of the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) Vascular Testing Board of Directors, a US organization that accredits clinical nuclear/PET, MRI, CT, ultrasound, and carotid stenting programs. She is Immediate Past President of the Neurosonology Communities of Practice of the American Institute in Ultrasound in Medicine, the largest professional medical ultrasound organization in the US. In Florida, Dr. Rundek serves on the AHA South Florida Board and is a recipient of the prestigious AHA Cor Vitae for Stroke Award, In the Company of Women- Outstanding Woman in Science and Technology Miami-Dade award, and the Women in Academic Medicine Career Achievement Award. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Honors & Awards
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Teaching Interests
Dr. Rundek is the Director of a Master of Science degree in Clinical Translational Investigation and Director of the KL2 mentored career development research training program at the Miami Clinical Translational Science Institute. She strongly believes in team science and fosters collaboration. -
Research Interests
Dr Rundek is a stroke neurologist, clinical researcher, and principal investigator of several R01 grants focusing on Neuro-vascular research. -
Publications
Disclaimer: Information presented in this section has been consolidated using AI and machine learning technologies. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, errors may occur. If you identify any inaccuracies, use this link to inform our data team. Your feedback is appreciated and helps us improve the quality of our content.
Articles & News
Miller School of Medicine Researchers Build Real‑World Model of Alzheimer’s Risk
Miller School Unveils AI Platform to Transform Translational Research and Scientific Training
Could Diet Soda Increase Dementia Risk?
Disclaimer:
Information presented in this section has been consolidated using AI and machine learning technologies. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, errors may occur. If you identify any inaccuracies, use this link to inform our data team. Your feedback is appreciated and helps us improve the quality of our content.
Clinical Trials
Viewing 0 of 2 clinical trials.
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Stroke remains a major public health problem with a disproportionate impact on blacks and Hispanics. Studies in Northern Manhattan have demonstrated that blacks and Hispanics have a greater stroke incidence and more frequently have small vessel and intracranial atherosclerotic stroke than whites. The reasons for these raceethnic disparities are not entirely clear. Enrollment of a populationbased, prospective cohort of 3298 strokefree adults was completed in 2001 and annual followup has continued since then. This collaborative study is the first prospective cohort study among whites, blacks and Caribbean Hispanics living in the same community. This grant supports continued followup and outcome detection and expansion of data collection in this cohort. The aims are to evaluate the relationship between vascular outcomes (stroke, MI, and vascular death) and insulin resistance, carotid intimamedia thickness, carotid distensibility, and quantitative MRI measures of vascular subclinical brain disease and to determine if MRI subclinical disease accounts for raceethnic differences in cognitive impairment. To accomplish these aims further data collection using our populationbased, prospective cohort study is proposed. Stored baseline serum will be used to measure fasting insulin levels to evaluate insulin resistance. Highresolution carotid imaging data will be collected at subsequent visits to expand our measurements of subclinical carotid disease to 1300 subjects. MRIs and a neuropsychological battery emphasizing frontalexecutive domains will be done on 1300 subjects and quantitative analyses performed to measure white matter hyperintensities, silent infarcts, and silent cerebral microbleeds. Starting in 2005, subjects enrolled in the MRI substudy began to have echocardiograms and 24hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Subjects will be followed by annual telephone interviews to ascertain stroke, MI, death, and changes in cognitive state. Inperson assessment will be done for all subjects who screen positive. Community stroke surveillance will be maintained to insure stroke detection among the cohort. Specific diagnostic committees classify stroke, MI and vascular death. The strengths of this cohort study are the wealth of baseline data already assembled, the triethnic composition residing in the same community, the outstanding followup record, the evaluation of putative risk factors, and the innovative assessment of MRI subclinical disease and carotid subclinical disease. The study primary hypotheses are:1. To determine the independent association of insulin resistance among nondiabetics and the incidence of stroke, as well as stroke, MI or vascular death, after adjusting for known modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, lipids, cigarettes, and alcohol. 2. To evaluate the independent association of subclinical carotid disease (carotid intimamedia thickness and carotid distensibility) and the incidence of stroke, MI or vascular death after adjusting for conventional modifiable vascular risk factors, as well as novel vascular risk factors such as homocysteine, HDL subpopulations, and insulin resistance.3. To compare the prevalence of subclinical vascular brain disease as measured by quantitative MRI, including white matter hyperintensities, silent infarcts, and silent cerebral microbleeds, in each raceethnic subgroup and determine the association between subclinical brain disease and modifiable vascular risk factors measured up to 10 years prior to MRI. Vascular risk factors will include baseline and repeated measures of conventional modifiable conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, lipid levels, cigarette smoking, physical activity, alcohol use, as well as lesswell documented factors such as homocysteine, HDL subpopulations, and insulin resistance. 4. To determine the relationship between subclinical vascular brain diseases and cognitive impairment, particularly diminished performance in frontal
- Principal Investigator: Tatjana Rundek
- Study Phase: N/A
- Enrollment Status: Open
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Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia expected to affect over 50% of the population aged 85 years and older over the next 30 years. The burden on society in terms of quality of life and the financial burden on patients and caregivers are enormous and the need to collect information on this patient population is great. There is a positive benefit for society and the affected individual to identify risk factors and better treatment options. We propose to implement a comprehensive longitudinal database registry for patients with agerelated memory disorders, dementia (i.e. Alzheimers Disease) with a biorepository registry. Participants will be enrolled from the University of Miami Memory Disorders Clinic, a collaborative effort between Neurology and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. The data bank will collect information on patient demographics, clinical assessments, medical history, familiar risk factors, imaging data, and treatment modalities.The goals of the clinical data bank/ biorepository include: Understanding the demographics and risk factors for dementia and its subtypes that may lead to improvements in patient care. Monitoring of compliance with dementia treatment recommendations, to better understand compliance issues and treatment outcomes. Accumulate a pool of data from which basic and applied research projects related to patients suffering from neurodegenerative and other dementing diseases may evolve. Identify biomarkers that predict the development of Alzheimers disease in patients with memory complaints or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and family members of affected patients with AD.the study is not currently collecting any data from the family members of the affected patient. This will be done in the future. A separate consent will be created. For now, the study will only collect the data of the participants.We will collect blood specimens from all consenting patients. The research that may be done with the specimen(s) will not benefit the subject directly nor have an effect on their care. It might help people who have memory loss and other diseases in the future through advancement of scientific knowledge. Any reports about the research, done with the specimen(s), will not be shared with the subject or their primary care doctor and the reports will not be put in their health record.Genetic material (Deoxyribonucleic Acid or DNA) may be extracted from the blood. Additionally, Ribonucleic Acid or RNA, protein, and other metabolic products may also be extracted from the sample. One possible use of these extracted materials is for genetic research. Genetic research is necessary to increase medical knowledge, often by discovering the role genes play in health and disease. Future studies may also include research that does not involve the use of genetic information. For example, studies may be developed to assess whether a medicine reduced the risk of memory disease(s). There are minor harms that can be associated with venipuncture for laboratory testing (risks not higher than for any routine blood sampling). These risks include pain at the site of blood drawing, the possibility of infection, bruising, fainting or bleeding at the puncture site but are considered Minimal Risk.We will also perform Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD), a safe, noninvasive technique that enables measurement of cerebral arterial blood flow velocity in the intracranial circulation, pulsatility index and cerebral reactivity to CO2 challenge (Newell in R, and Aaslid, Ruitenberg). Indices of cerebral vascular hemodynamic function have recently been used to address the role of vascular disease and specifically cerebral small vessel disease in cognitive decline and dementia. Decreased flow velocity in the intracranial cerebral arteries is thought to indirectly reflect microvascular damage (Kalaria 2002, Vicenzini). Similarly, the arterial pulsatility index is considered a measure of microangiopathic changes of cer
- Principal Investigator: Tatjana Rundek
- Study Phase: N/A
- Enrollment Status: Closed