Dr. Zlatar received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Florida, with a focus on adult neuropsychology/geropsychology. She completed her APA-accredited clinical psychology internship at the University of California, Los Angeles (Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior), focusing on the neuropsychological assessment of older adults and Spanish-speaking adults. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neurocognitive aging at the University of California, San Diego with an emphasis on imaging the neural substrates of physical activity in older adults. She is a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD, where she develops behavioral interventions to promote healthy brain and cognitive aging
Dr. Zlatar is the Principal Investigator of the WISE Lab (Wellness Initiative for Senior Enrichment). The WISE Lab investigates the neural mechanisms by which behavioral factors and lifestyle interventions (such as exercise and diet) affect brain plasticity and cognition in aging. For this purpose, the WISE lab uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain structure and perfusion (arterial spin labeling MRI); standard neuropsychological tests to assess cognitive function; accelerometry to capture physical activity and sedentary time; cardiorespiratory treadmill testing to measure fitness levels; and dietary recall to assess dietary changes.