Multicultural Assessment and Research Center

About This Program

The Multicultural Assessment and Research Center (MARC) at Massachusetts General Hospital is dedicated to best practices in multicultural neuropsychology. Our staff focuses on providing culturally and linguistically proficient neuropsychological services to diverse adult patients with a variety of disorders that impact cognitive functioning. Additionally, we provide enriched training opportunities for clinical psychology students who are interested in multicultural neuropsychology through the MGH Multicultural Neuropsychology internship elective and the MGH Multicultural Neuropsychology Post-Doctoral Training Program.

Our Services

Neuropsychological Evaluations

MARC provides culturally and linguistically proficient neuropsychological evaluations and interventions to adults and older adults presenting with a variety of disorders that impact cognitive functioning, including but not limited to neurological/medical disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, epilepsy, brain tumors, psychiatric disorders and learning disorders/developmental disabilities, among other presenting concerns.

We focus on providing neuropsychological evaluations for individuals with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Our staff includes bilingual (English/Spanish) clinical neuropsychologists with extensive training in multicultural neuropsychology. Neuropsychological evaluations can be completed in both Spanish and/or English. We work closely with MGH Medical Interpreter Services to provide evaluations to a linguistically diverse patient base.

The neuropsychological evaluation consists of:

• Clinical interview with the patient and/or patient’s family member 
• Administration of a battery of tests designed to evaluate different aspects of cognitive functioning (e.g., attention, memory, visuospatial abilities, executive functioning). Tasks require the patient to give verbal or non-verbal responses 
• Feedback session with the patient and/or patient’s family member to discuss results and recommendations based on the evaluation  

The neuropsychological evaluation can last from two to five hours, depending on the referral question. Patients are given breaks throughout the evaluation as needed. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, components of the neuropsychological evaluation can be offered either in-person or remotely.

Cognitive Training 

We also offer cognitive skills training (e.g., attention/executive functioning, memory) to our Spanish-speaking patients, either in an individual or group format. Please note that patients should have had a neuropsychological evaluation at least six months prior.

Our Research

Clinicians at MARC conduct neuropsychological and neuroimaging research. Their ongoing projects focus on examining risk and protective factors for age-related memory decline and neurodegeneration.

For more information about our research, please visit Mass General’s Multicultural Alzheimer’s Prevention Program.

Our Team

Program Leadership

Yakeel T. Quiroz, PhD
Director, Multicultural Assessment and Research Center  
Clinical Neuropsychologist  
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School 
 
Paula A. Aduen, PhD 
Assistant Director, Multicultural Assessment and Research Center
Clinical Neuropsychologist  
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Staff Neuropsychologists

Clara Vila-Castelar, PhD 
Clinical Neuropsychologist  
Instructor, Harvard Medical School

Edmarie Guzman-Velez, PhD 
Clinical Neuropsychologist
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Marta González Catalán, PhD
Clinical Neuropsychologist
Instructor, Harvard Medical School

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Nadine Schwab, PhD
Clinical Neuropsychology Post-Doctoral Fellow

Administrative Staff

Diana Munera, Senior Clinical Research Coordinator  
Daisy Noriega, Clinical Research Coordinator II 
Alex Badillo Cabrera, Clinical Research Coordinator I
Nikole Bonillas Felix, Clinical Research Coordinator I
Sofia Fabrega-Ching, Clinical Research Coordinator I
Crystal Castillo, Clinical Research Coordinator