Morse Scholar Alumni 2022-2025
Current Position
Postdoctoral Fellow, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Contact
About
Emily’s research centers on cognitive development in individuals with Down syndrome throughout the lifespan. One goal of this work is to determine how biological and environmental factors alter development and explain heterogeneity in skills across individuals with Down syndrome. Another important aspect of her research is aimed at establishing feasible outcome measures for research studies and future clinical trials involving individuals with Down syndrome. This includes developing remote procedures for cognitive measurement to reduce participant burden and improve access to research in rural communities and identifying cognitive measures that correlate with blood biomarkers of brain pathology in the unfolding of Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome.
Education
| 2013 | BS | Psychology | University of Richmond |
| 2017 | MS | Human Development and Family Studies | Colorado State University |
| 2020 | PhD | Human Development and Family Studies | Colorado State University |
| 2022–2025 | Morse Scholar | Major Professor: Sigan Hartley, PhD | Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
News
Selected Publications
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Piro-Gambetti, B., Krinsky-McHale, S., Kovacs, C., Handen, B., Christian, B., Laymon, C. M., Minhas, D., Luo, W., Yoon, D. M., Fleming, V. L., Schworer, E., Kirkorian, H., Hartley, S. L., & Alzheimer Biomarkers Consortium‐Down Syndrome (2025). Eye Tracking as a Tool for Detecting Alzheimer’s Disease in People With Down Syndrome. Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 69(5), 370–382. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.13214
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Schworer, E. K., Zammit, M. D., Wang, J., Handen, B. L., Betthauser, T., Laymon, C. M., Tudorascu, D. L., Cohen, A. D., Zaman, S. H., Ances, B. M., Mapstone, M., Head, E., Christian, B. T., Hartley, S. L., & Alzheimer’s Biomarker Consortium–Down Syndrome (ABC–DS) (2024). Timeline to symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome as assessed by amyloid-PET and tau-PET: a longitudinal cohort study. The Lancet. Neurology, 23(12), 1214–1224. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00426-5
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Piro-Gambetti, B., Schworer, E. K., Handen, B., Glukhovskaya, M., & Hartley, S. L. (2024). Does Employment Complexity Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging in Down Syndrome?. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 28(2), 499–513. https://doi.org/10.1177/17446295231169379
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Schworer, E. K., Handen, B. L., Petersen, M., O’Bryant, S., Peven, J. C., Tudorascu, D. L., Lee, L., Krinsky-McHale, S. J., Hom, C. L., Clare, I. C. H., Christian, B. T., Schupf, N., Lee, J. H., Head, E., Mapstone, M., Lott, I., Ances, B. M., Zaman, S., Brickman, A. M., Lai, F., … Alzheimer Biomarker Consortium‐Down Syndrome (2024). Cognitive and functional performance and plasma biomarkers of early Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome. Alzheimer’s & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 16(2), e12582. https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12582
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Hartley, S. L., Handen, B., Tudorascu, D., Lee, L., Cohen, A., Schworer, E. K., Peven, J. C., Zammit, M., Klunk, W., Laymon, C., Minhas, D., Luo, W., Zaman, S., Ances, B., Preboske, G., Christian, B. T., & Alzheimer Biomarker Consortium – Down Syndrome (2024). AT(N) biomarker profiles and Alzheimer’s disease symptomology in Down syndrome. Alzheimer’s & dementia, 20(1), 366–375. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13446.
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Hartley, S. L., Fleming, V., Schworer, E. K., Peven, J., Handen, B. L., Krinsky-McHale, S., Hom, C., Lee, L., Tudorascu, D. L., Laymon, C., Minhas, D., Luo, W., Cohen, A., Zaman, S., Ances, B. M., Mapstone, M., Head, E., Lai, F., Rosas, H. D., Klunk, W., … Alzheimer Biomarker Consortium-Down Syndrome (2023). Timing of Alzheimer’s Disease by Intellectual Disability Level in Down Syndrome. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 95(1), 213–225. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-230200