Elsa Baena, PhD

Elsa Baena, PhD, is a neuropsychologist in the Department of Clinical Neuropsychology and the inpatient neuro-rehabilitation unit at Barrow Neurological Institute.

Dr. Baena’s expertise includes the neuropsychological assessment and rehabilitation of individuals with a variety of neurological diagnoses, including neurodegenerative conditions, acquired brain injuries, cardiovascular diseases, and brain tumors. She also conducts pre- and postsurgical evaluations for deep brain stimulation (DBS) and epilepsy surgery. She is fluent in English and Spanish and is a member of the Hispanic Neuropsychological Society, the National Latinx Psychological Association, the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, the International Neuropsychological Society, and the National Academy of Neuropsychology.

Dr. Baena earned her master’s degree in psychology and doctorate in neuropsychology from the University of Arizona. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Spanish/cross-cultural adult neuropsychology at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Baena’s research interests include the neuropsychological assessment of Spanish-speaking individuals; cultural neuroscience of cognitive aging, healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease among Hispanic and Latin American peoples; culturally appropriate cognitive rehabilitation interventions for treatment of MCI and Alzheimer’s disease, and effective training strategies to work with underserved and linguistically diverse communities.