Diego Lievano Parra
Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Division of Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, and Linguistics
Diego Lievano Parra is a postdoctoral fellow at Reed College whose work focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, with particular interest in movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, and Huntington’s disease. His academic training brings together psychology, clinical neuropsychology, neuroscience, and behavioral neuroscience: he earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, after completing graduate degrees in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of San Buenaventura, Colombia, and in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Pablo de Olavide University in Spain. He also conducted graduate research in the Izquierdo Lab at UCLA. Across more than 17 years of clinical and experimental work, Diego has studied neurological and neurodegenerative conditions from complementary perspectives, first through direct clinical experience with patients and later through preclinical models of disease. His current research examines motor and non-motor markers associated with early and prodromal stages of Parkinson’s disease, using rodent models to better understand the pathways that contribute to cognitive, behavioral, and motor symptoms. At Reed, his ongoing projects investigate the neuroprotective effects of estrogen, the motor-cognitive effects of L-DOPA treatment, and the role of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus in cognitive flexibility and motor control. He teaches courses in mental and brain health, neurodegenerative diseases, clinical neuropsychology, and behavioral neuroscience.