To reduce the scale and impact of dementia we need to raise awareness in the community about dementia prevention and early diagnosis.
Current Work
Neurologist at Hospital Nacional de la Policía de Colombia and Clinica Universidad de la Sabana, cognitive neurologist at "Instituto Roosevelt" memory clinic
Personal Hero
Women leaders
Words of Strength
Dreaming big, passion, leadership
Vision
To reduce the scale and impact of dementia we need to raise awareness in the community about dementia prevention and early diagnosis.
Strategy
Alejandra is working with the community to build a dementia-friendly city and studying the influence on cognitive aging of social determinants of health in Columbia.
Impact
As an Atlantic Fellow, she has had the opportunity to address cognition on Bogota's homeless populations, She's involved in the design and development of a community-based strategy for dementia awareness and friendliness called "Amigos De Mente,".
Motivation
Colombia is a middle-income country of 48 million people, with 5.2 million being aged 60 years and above. Dementia prevalence in Colombia according to the Survey on Health, Wellbeing and Ageing in Colombia, SABE study is 9.4%, with no national dementia plan.
Alejandra Guerrero Barragán completed her medical studies at Universidad del Rosario in 2011. She conducted her residency in neurology at Universidad de la Sabana – Hospital Occidente de Kennedy between 2013 and 2017, where she served as chief resident in neurology. In the final year of her residency, she spent five months in the Memory Unit at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona, Spain. She was part of Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health 2017 Cohort and spent 2 years at Trinity College Dublin. Alejandra holds a Masters Degree in Public Health at Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. Nowadays, Guerrero works as a neurologist in Bogotá, Colombia.