Primary research interests involve the development of new measures of everyday functioning applicable to older adults with cognitive impairment and dementia, and the study of the how cognitive and non-cognitive impairments influence everyday functioning. Other active research interests in the area of aging are related to the influence of vascular disease on cognitive decline, the role of cognitive reserve in moderating the effects of disease on cognition, and the development of new approaches for how to measure cognitive reserve in older adults. Dr. Farias obtained a bachelor’s in science degree from Arizona State University in 1993, and a PhD from the University of North Texas in 2000. She held an internship in the department of Neurology and Psychiatry at Tulane University and in 2002, and she was awarded a NIMH-funded summer research scholarship in Geriatric Psychiatry.