***** Dr. Prieto will be accepting students for the Fall 2027 admissions cycle in the Clinical-Community Ph.D. concentration. She welcomes inquiries from prospective applicants interested in cognitive aging, health equity, or digital approaches to neuropsychological assessment. *****

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Sarah Prieto is a clinical neuropsychologist whose work examines how chronic stress, trauma, and other contextual factors affect cognitive aging and dementia risk. Dr. Prieto holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience,

from The Ohio State University. She completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Prieto directs the REACH Lab (Research on Equity, Adversity, and Cognitive Health),

is a member of the Clinical-Community concentration in the Department of Psychology, and is affiliated with the University of South Carolina Brain Health Network.

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Dr. Prieto’s research program addresses several interconnected areas. First, she studies the lifelong impact of stress and adversity on brain health, with a focus on allostatic load as a mechanism linking chronic stress to cognitive decline in older adults.

Second, she examines social determinants of health and cognitive aging, investigating how socioeconomic status, neighborhood deprivation, and structural barriers to care interact with biological risk factors to shape dementia risk and access to neuropsychological

services. Third, she studies digital and remote approaches to cognitive assessment, including smartphone-based and ecological momentary assessment methods, to extend the reach of cognitive evaluation to marginalized communities. Fourth, her advocacy scholarship

addresses equity and representation within neuropsychology, including the representation of women in the field and reform of training and family-leave policies in postdoctoral education.

Lab website: https://reach-lab.net/

Representative Publications:

1. Prieto, S., Larracey, E. T., Hernandez-Vallant, A., Rahilly, M., Goldstein, A., Kaden, W., Tremont, G., Kiriakopoulos, E. T., Davis, J., & Margolis, S. A. (2026). When stigma hits home: A mixed methods study of affiliate stigma among epilepsy care partners. Epilepsy & Behavior, 183, 111148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2026.111148

2. Prieto, S., Kiriakopoulos, E. T., Tremont, G., Mankodiya, K., Goldstein, A., Castillo, E., Sadhu, S., Kaden, S., Davis, J. D., & Margolis, S. A. (2025). Toward a multimodal model of internalized epilepsy stigma. Epilepsy & Behavior, 174, 110812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2025.110812

3. Prieto, S., Kiriakopoulos, E. T., Tremont, G., Mankodiya, K., Goldstein, A., Castillo, E., Sadhu, S., Kaden, S., Davis, J. D., & Margolis, S. A. (2025). Effects of stigma intersectionality on an epilepsy stigma self-management program. Epilepsy & Behavior, 172, 110682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2025.110682

4. Prieto, S., Valerio, K.E., Hayes, S.M., & Hayes, J.P. (2023). Posttraumatic symptom severity predicts decline in cognitive functioning in Vietnam war Veterans. Translational Psychiatry, 13(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02354-0

5. Prieto, S., Moody, J.N., Valerio, K.E., & Hayes, J.P. (2022). Posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity is associated with reduced outcomes on the MOCA in a sample of Vietnam Veterans. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 35(4), 1282-1290. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22830