Chandler Zolliecoffer ’11

Thinking back on her years at Crossroads, Chandler remembers a spark of curiosity that helped set her on the path to becoming a neuropsychologist. She recalled, “Jason Johnson’s Great Literature of Science class was really about how science might be used to approach life’s biggest questions. It peaked my interest and led me to go searching for more on my own. I remember finding a book about neuroscience and thinking, ‘This is what I want to do.’”

Although Chandler joined Crossroads in first grade, her family relocated to Michigan the following year. She returned as a ninth grader and loved her high school science classes as well as the English and history classes she credits with helping her become a strong writer. 

After high school, Chandler attended Loyola University Maryland and graduated with an interdisciplinary degree in biology and psychology. She spent two years conducting clinical research on Alzheimer's disease at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and then earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a specialization in neuropsychology at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She completed her neuropsychology residency at UC San Diego and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago.

As a neuropsychologist, Chandler’s work explores brain-behavior relationships. She explained, “We examine people through a holistic lens. Not only are we looking at their medical history but also at their background, their social life and their education in order to understand how these aspects of life might have impacted how they’re performing cognitively.”

Chandler is currently involved with a study that tracks a cohort of Black individuals who are 80 or older with extremely high cognitive function for their age. The study focuses on identifying what factors in their lives may have contributed to their exemplary cognitive health and wellbeing. 

Identifying and analyzing health disparities between populations is one facet of the research that is meaningful to Chandler, and another thread she traces back to her Crossroads experience. She reflected, “I took a cultural diversity class at Crossroads that helped shape my desire to keep fighting for minoritized and marginalized people.”