Kyoko Konishi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, Mass General Hospital / HMS
Dr. Kyoko Konishi is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Konishi received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from McGill University, Canada with support from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec en Santé and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She is a recipient of an NIA-supported Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA fellowship in the Harvard Translational Research in Aging Training Program and is currently a K12 ORWH BIRCWH Scholar.
Dr. Konishi has a long-standing interest in the field of aging research and, more specifically, in understanding factors that contribute to healthy aging. During her Ph.D., Dr. Konishi investigated genetic, non-genetic, and lifestyle factors that influence hippocampal integrity in healthy aging. Under the mentorship of Dr. Jill Goldstein, Dr. Konishi’s research interests include sex differences in the brain, which are critical for understanding sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease. Her postdoctoral work focused on examining the impact of adrenal hormones and growth factors on memory circuitry function in women as they transition through menopause. Her current work focuses on investigating metabolic mediators of sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease. Her overall goals are to 1) identify target populations for clinical trials by investigating early physiological and brain markers of cognitive decline, and 2) translate this knowledge to clinical applications.
Selected Publications
Konishi K, Cherkerzian S, Aroner S, Jacobs EG, Rentz DM, Remington A, Aizley H, Hornig M, Klibanski A, Goldstein JM. Impact of BDNF and sex on maintaining intact memory function in early midlife. Neurobiol Aging. 2019. Epub 2020/01/18.
Konishi K, Cherkerzian S, Jacobs EG, Richards C, Remington A, Aizley H, Misra M, Lasley BL, Goldstein JM. Impact of adrenal hormones, reproductive aging, and major depression on memory circuitry decline in early midlife. Brain Res. 2019. 1721:146303.
Konishi K, Joober R, Poirier J, MacDonald K, Chakravarty M, Patel R, Breitner J, Bohbot VD. Healthy versus Entorhinal Cortical Atrophy Identification in Asymptomatic APOE4 Carriers at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018;61(4):1493-507.
Konishi K, McKenzie S, Etchamendy N, Roy S, Bohbot VD. Hippocampus-dependent spatial learning is associated with higher global cognition among healthy older adults. Neuropsychologia. 2017;106:310-21.
Andruchow ND, Konishi K, Shatenstein B, Bohbot VD. A lower ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids predicts better hippocampus-dependent spatial memory and cognitive status in older adults. Neuropsychology. 2017;31(7):724-34.
Konishi K, Bhat V, Banner H, Poirier J, Joober R, Bohbot VD. APOE2 Is Associated with Spatial Navigational Strategies and Increased Gray Matter in the Hippocampus. Frontiers in human neuroscience. 2016;10:349.
Hussain D, Hanafi S, Konishi K, Brake WG, Bohbot VD. Modulation of spatial and response strategies by phase of the menstrual cycle in women tested in a virtual navigation task. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2016;70:108-17.