Assistant Professor
Ph.D.: University of Albany, State University of New York, 2007
Area: Clinical Neuropsychology
Therapy Orientation: Behavioral/Cognitive Behavioral
Office: Columbine Hall 4047
Phone: (719) 255-4135
Email: bgavett@uccs.edu

 

Professor Gavett obtained his Bachelor's degree in Psychology from SUNY Geneseo and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University at Albany, SUNY. He completed his internship in Clinical Psychology with a major rotation in Clinical Neuropsychology at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT. He also completed a two-year fellowship in Neuropsychology at the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center in Boston, MA. Prior to joining the UCCS Psychology Department, Dr. Gavett was an Instructor of Neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Director of Neuropsychology at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy in Boston, MA. At UCCS, Dr. Gavett provides clinical supervision in neuropsychology to graduate students at the CU Aging Center and teaches a graduate course in Clinical Neuropsychology.

Dr. Gavett's research employs advanced psychometrics to measure changes in cognition over time for the purposes of understanding cognitive aging and neurodegenerative diseases (including Alzheimer's disease and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). His research interests also include neuropsychological test validity, differential diagnosis, and clinical decision-making. Dr. Gavett is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology) of the APA, the International Neuropsychological Society, and the National Academy of Neuropsychology. He serves as a member of the Ethics Subcommitee of the APA Division 40 Public Interest Advisory Committee and the Education Committee of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.

Research Areas:

Clinical neuropsychology, cognitive aging, advanced psychometric methods (including item response theory and other approaches to latent variable modeling), Alzheimer's disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, and forensic neuropsychology.

Representative Publications:

Gavett, B. E. & Stern, R. A. (2012). Dementia has a categorical, not dimensional, latent structure. Psychology and Aging, 27, 791-797.

Baugh, C. M., Stamm, J. M., Riley, D. O., Gavett, B. E., Shenton, M. E., Lin, A., Nowinski, C. J., Cantu, R. C., McKee, A. C., & Stern, R. A. (2012). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: Neurodegeneration following repetitive concussive and subconcussive brain trauma. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 6, 244-254.

Gavett, B. E., Lou, K. R., Daneshvar, D. H., Green, R. C., Jefferson, A. L., & Stern, R. A. (2012). Diagnostic accuracy statistics for seven Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) test variables in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 19, 108-115.

Gavett, B. E. & Horwitz, J. E. (2012). Immediate list recall as a measure of short-tem episodic memory: Insights from the serial position effect and item response theory. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 27, 125-135.

Gavett, B. E., Cantu, R. C., Shenton, M., Lin, A. P., Nowinski, C. J., McKee, A. C., & Stern, R. A. (2011). Clinical appraisal of chronic traumatic encephalopathy: current perspectives and future directions. Current Opinion in Neurology, 24, 525-531.

Stern, R. A., Andersen, S., & Gavett, B. E. (2011). Executive functioning. In A. E. Budson & N. W. Kowall (Eds.), Handbook of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

McKee, A. C., & Gavett, B. E. (2011). The neuropathology of the dementing disorders. In A. E. Budson & N. W. Kowall (Eds.), Handbook of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Ready, R. E., Carvalho, J. O., Green, R. C., Gavett, B. E., & Stern, R. A. (2011). The structure and validity of self-reported affect in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease. International Psychogeriatrics, 23, 887-898.

Gavett, B. E., Stern, R. A., & McKee, A. C. (2011). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: A potential late effect of sport-related concussive and subconcussive head trauma. Clinics in Sports Medicine, 30, 179-188.

McKee, A. C., Gavett, B. E., Stern, R. A., Nowinski, C. J., Cantu, R. C., Kowall, N. W., Perl, D. P., Hedley-Whyte, E. T., Price, B., Sullivan, C., Morin, P., Lee, H., Kubilus, C. A., Danshevar, D. H., Wulff, M., & Budson, A. E. (2010). TDP-43 proteinopathy and motor neuron disease in chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 69, 918-929.

Gavett, B. E., Stern, R. A., Cantu, R. C., Nowinski, C. J., & McKee, A. C. (2010) Mild traumatic brain injury: A risk factor for neurodegeneration. Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, 2, 18-20.

Gavett, B. E., Ozonoff, A., Doktor, V., Palmisano, J., Nair, A. K., Green, R. C., Jefferson, A. L., & Stern, R. A. (2010). Predicting cognitive decline and conversion to Alzheimer's disease in older adults using the NAB List Learning test. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 16, 651-660.

Eggermont, L. H. P., Gavett, B. E., Volkers, K. M., Blankevoort, C. G., Scherder, E. J., Jefferson, A. L., Steinberg, E., Nair, A. K., Green, R. C., & Stern, R. A. (2010). Lower extremity function in normal cognitive aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 91, 584-588.

Nair, A. K., Gavett, B. E., Damman, M., Dekker, W., Green, R. C., Auerbach, S., Mandel, A., Steinberg, E., Hubbard, E. J., Jefferson, A. J., & Stern, R. A. (2010). Clock drawing test ratings by dementia specialists: Inter-rater reliability and diagnostic accuracy. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 22, 85-92.

Gavett, B. E. (2010). Neuropsychological Assessment Battery. In Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of clinical neuropsychology. New York: Springer Reference.

McKee, A. C., Cantu, R. C., Nowinski, C. J., Hedley-Whyte, E. T., Gavett, B. E., Budson, A. E., Santini, V. E., Lee, H. S., Kubilus, C. A., & Stern, R. A. (2009). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in athletes: Progressive tauopathy after repetitive head injury. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 68, 709-735.

Gavett, B. E., Poon, S. J., Ozonoff, A., Jefferson, A. J., Nair, A. K., Green, R. C., & Stern, R. A. (2009). Diagnostic utility of the NAB List Learning test in Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15, 121-129. Supplemental data available at: http://bit.ly/NAB_LL

Gavett, B. E., & McCaffrey, R. J. (2007). The influence of an adaptation period in reducing the third party observer effect during a neuropsychological evaluation. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22, 699-710.

Yantz, C. L., Gavett, B. E., Lynch J. K., & McCaffrey, R. J. (2006). Potential for interpretation disparities of Halstead–Reitan neuropsychological battery performances in a litigating sample. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 21, 809-817.