Robyn Honea, PhD

Professional Background

Robyn Honea, Ph.D., is director for the Neuroimaging Core of the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and a research associate professor of Neurology at KU Medical Center. She is also the director of the Brain Imaging and Neurogenetics Lab.

Dr. Honea received her doctoral degree from Oxford University in England through the National Institute of Mental Health-funded Graduate Partnerships Award. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in the Department of Neurology. She serves on a number of editorial boards, and is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, Human Brain Mapping, KU Women and Medicine and IStaart.

She is the recipient of several grants including a K01 award from the National Institutes of Aging, co-investigator on several R01 awards from NIH, pilot awards from Frontiers and the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center, the Alzheimer’s Association, Mead-Johnson, the Dana Foundation and the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Initiative.

• BS, Psychology/Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
• DPHIL, Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, England
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, KUMC, Kansas City, KS

Research

Overview

Dr. Honea is involved in a variety of neurological research and primarily focuses on brain imaging and genetics to understand risk for Alzheimer’s Disease. Her recent focus has been on investigating the role of mitochondrial genes, APOE and TOMM40 in Alzheimer’s Disease. She is also involved in a variety of research using brain imaging biomarkers to study the effects of exercise, diet and other interventions on neurodegenerative diseases.

She has successfully mentored junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and medical students, and undergraduate interns and fellows.

• Honea, Robyn ., A, Hunt, Suzanne, Lepping, Rebecca., J, Vidoni, Eric., D, Morris, Jill ., K, Watts, Amber , Michaelis, Elias, Burns, Jeffrey., M, Swerdlow, Russell., H. 2023. Alzheimer’s Disease Cortical Morphological Phenotypes associated with TOMM40’523-APOE Haplotypes. . Neurobiology of Aging, 132, 131-144. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37804609/
• Vidoni, E., D, Morris, J., K, Palmer, J., A, Li , Y, White, D, Kueck, P., J, John, C., S, Honea, R., A, Lepping, R., J, Lee, P, Mahnken, J., D, Martin, L., E, Billinger, S., A. 2022. Dementia risk and dynamic response to exercise: A non-randomized clinical trial.. PloS one, 17 (7), e0265860
• Palmer, J., A, Kaufman, C., S, Vidoni, E., D, Honea, R., A, Burns, J., M, Billinger, S., A. 2022. Cerebrovascular response to exercise interacts with individual genotype and amyloid-beta deposition to influence response inhibition with aging.. Neurobiology of aging, 114, 15-26
• Honea, R., A, John, C., S, Green, Z., D, Kueck, P., J, Taylor, M., K, Lepping, R., J, Townley, R, Vidoni, E., D, Burns, J., M, Morris, J., K. 2022. Relationship of fasting glucose and longitudinal Alzheimer's disease imaging markers.. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.), 8 (1), e12239
• Taylor, M., K, Sullivan, D., K, Morris, J., K, Vidoni, E., D, Honea, R., A, Mahnken, J., D, Burns, J., M. 2021. High Glycemic Diet Is Related to Brain Amyloid Accumulation Over One Year in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease.. Frontiers in nutrition, 8, 741534
• Vidoni, E., D, Morris, J., K, Watts, A, Perry, M, Clutton, J, Van Sciver, A, Kamat, A., S, Mahnken, J, Hunt, S., L, Townley, R, Honea, R, Shaw, A., R, Johnson, D., K, Vacek, J, Burns, J., M. 2021. Effect of aerobic exercise on amyloid accumulation in preclinical Alzheimer's: A 1-year randomized controlled trial.. PloS one, 16 (1), e0244893
• Morris, J., K, John, C., S, Green, Z., D, Wilkins, H., M, Wang, X, Kamat, A, Swerdlow, R., S, Vidoni, E., D, Petersen, M., E, O'Bryant, S., E, Honea, R., A, Burns, J., M. 2020. Characterization of the Meal-Stimulated Incretin Response and Relationship With Structural Brain Outcomes in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease.. Frontiers in neuroscience, 14, 608862
• Lepping, R., J, Honea, R., A, Martin, L., E, Liao, K, Choi, I., Y, Lee, P, Papa, V., B, Brooks, W., M, Shaddy, D., J, Carlson, S., E, Colombo, J, Gustafson, K., M. 2019. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in the first year of life affects brain function, structure, and metabolism at age nine years.. Developmental psychobiology, 61 (1), 5-16
• Honea, R., A, Szabo-Reed, A., N, Lepping, R., J, Perea, R, Breslin, F, Martin, L., E, Brooks, W., M, Donnelly, J., E, Savage, C., R. 2016. Voxel-based morphometry reveals brain gray matter volume changes in successful dieters.. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 24 (9), 1842-8
• Perea, R., D, Vidoni, E., D, Morris, J., K, Graves, R., S, Burns, J., M, Honea, R., A. 2016. Cardiorespiratory fitness and white matter integrity in Alzheimer's disease.. Brain imaging and behavior, 10 (3), 660-8