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Candidate for NAN President-Elect
Robert M. Roth, Ph.D.
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Candidate Statement:
It is an honor to be nominated for President of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, and I thank you for your consideration of my candidacy. I have been a member of NAN since 2010 and a NAN Fellow since 2021. Over these many years, I have had the great pleasure of interacting and collaborating with numerous professional and student members of our organization. It is evident that NAN’s vibrancy and commitment to advancing our profession has never been stronger, and of direct relevance to practicing clinical neuropsychologists, supervisors, research mentors, and trainees. As a faculty member at Dartmouth over the past 23 years, I have sought to enhance the visibility and role of neuropsychology in clinical care and research through collaboration with fellow neuropsychologists and trainees, as well as with colleagues and residents from a variety of other disciplines. As President of NAN, I will work closely with the NAN Board and committees, and seek collaboration with other organizations and stakeholders (such as patient advocacy groups), to advance our profession through promoting the scope and visibility of our contributions to healthcare, enhancing our ability to serve our increasingly diverse communities, encouraging the funding of novel research that informs clinical practice, as well as supporting timely educational offerings that enhance the knowledge base and skills of our professional members and trainees. I will also seek to further address NAN’s mission of promoting the field of neuropsychology by seeking new and innovative ways to educate students (high school, undergraduates) about our professional and the varied opportunities and career paths it affords.
Dr. Roth is a member of the following organizations:
- National Academy of Neuropsychology (Fellow)
- International Neuropsychological Society (Professional Member)
- American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (Active Member)
Candidate Positions on the Issues:
How does your background qualify you for this office?
NAN is an exceptional organization that brings together professionals with varied careers involving clinical practice, consultation, research, education, and training, as well as trainees working towards a career in neuropsychology. During over 20 years as a neuropsychologist, I have served in all of those roles while working in academic medical center, state psychiatric hospital, and private practice settings, as well as collaborating with industry (e.g., test publisher, engineering, pharma) and conducting funded research. I have had the opportunity to be intimately involved in clinical service management as Director of Adult Neuropsychology at Dartmouth, as well as in training the next generation as Director of Clinical Neuropsychology Training. Through this work, I have gained extensive experience collaborating nationally and internationally with professionals and trainees from within and outside of neuropsychology to advance clinical care, research, and training. Within NAN, I was fortunate to serve as Chair of the Clinical Research Grants Committee (CRG) from 2018-2023, and I am a member of the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology editorial board. In my role as CRG committee chair, I helped establish new partnerships between NAN and other organizations (Alzheimer’s Association, SCN, AACN) to support research on brain health, innovation in neuropsychology, and in populations subject to health disparities. These experiences have contributed to a deep understanding of the varied roles, demands, and needs of professionals and trainees within our field, as well as a track record of successful collaboration with others from both within and outside our profession, which I am eager to bring to bear in the service of NAN as its President.
What do you see as the major challenges to neuropsychology in the next 5 years? How do you believe NAN, under your leadership, can be effective in meeting these challenges?
Neuropsychology faces a number of challenges. Reimbursement for our services has been whittled down, despite high demand and limited access, especially in rural and other underserved communities. Furthermore, encroachment upon our field of expertise continues, such as computerized (including online) cognitive tests and cognitive-enhancing interventions and apps, used without the expertise provided by neuropsychologists. There are multiple contributors to this state of affairs that will require a multi-pronged approach to address. One crucial issue is that, despite our long history as a profession, the knowledge, skills, and many contributions of neuropsychology (our “value”) continue to have limited visibility in the public sphere, in industry, as well as among policymakers and many professions. As President of NAN, an important goal will be to increase recognition of the unique contributions our profession has made, and is making, in so many areas of clinical practice and science, as well as the vital role we will play well into the future as cognitive and behavioral disorders, and their salience for quality of life and economic impact, are increasingly recognized. Towards that end, I am eager to work with the NAN board, committees, and broader membership to build on prior excellent endeavors (e.g., BrainWise) and develop novel initiatives and collaborations to promote understanding of the value of our wide-ranging professional contributions through social media campaigns, advocacy, and outreach.
How would you promote professional practice?
As new technological developments have steadily changed our lives (often for the better), neuropsychology practice (including mine) has largely continued to emphasize our longstanding methods and tools. While these remain valuable, as a field we have been slow to develop and adopt novel ways to carry out our work. Thus, I am eager to promote innovation in clinical practice though workshops, conference presentations, and funding collaborative research that seeks to leverage technological developments to enhance the utility, ecological validity, and efficiency of our work. Another important avenue for promoting professional practice is to enhance educational opportunities. In particular, NAN has always been a very welcoming home for trainees, not only at the annual conference, but with endeavors such as the Trainee Education Series and opportunities to serve on committees. Developing further opportunities for professional growth for graduate students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows, especially on topics that generally receive less attention in training programs (e.g., technological innovation, the business side of neuropsychology in private practice and in medical settings, clinical and research program development, varied career paths) would serve our profession well. For example, one idea that has been raised is the establishment of a funding mechanism to support graduate student research in neuropsychology. I am excited about the chance to further that endeavor, especially to fund research on innovative approaches to enhance clinical practice (e.g., screening, assessment, intervention).
How do you plan to bridge science and practice?
As a scientist-practitioner, my career has emphasized the bridging of clinical service and empirical research, as well as bringing these into clinical supervision and research mentorship. In my role as Chair of the NAN Clinical Research Grants committee, I continued the long tradition within NAN of supporting research that informs clinical practice and enhances the value of neuropsychology for patients, referral sources, and other stakeholders. As clinicians, however, we are faced with increasing demands on our time (e.g., patient care, administrative duties) that limits the time we have to keep up-to-date on the ever-growing scientific literature relevant to our work. As NAN President, I will work with NAN committees to enhance continuing education offerings, as well as promote new endeavors, that emphasize evidence-based practical applications of state-of-the-art science for the clinician in a readily accessible format. I will also work closely with the NAN Board and NAN Clinical Research Grants committee to support the funding of research that helps translate science into clinical practice, including seeking to establish partnerships with other funding organizations.