Botagoz Aimagambetova, MD.

Dr. Botagoz Aimagambetova was born in Kazakhstan, where she also completed most of her education. She received her MD in Karaganda State Medical Academy in 2005, where she also completed her internship in Internal Diseases and residency in Cardiology. After receiving her clinical degree, she continued to study ultrasound and functional evaluation of cardiovascular diseases. She received training in heart and chest surgeries at Edith Wolfson Medical center, Holon, Israel, and in the Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery in Kaunas, Lithuania. Dr. Aimagambetova is trained in a full range of noninvasive diagnostic cardiac exams, such as Holter monitoring of ECG and blood pressure, treadmill test, veloergometry, stress testing, transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, and ultrasound of aorta and brachycephalic arteries. Dr. Aimagambetova is currently working on her master’s in clinical and translational research at the University of Miami under the mentorship of Dr. Rundek. Her primary research interest is the determination of cardiovascular risk factors in the etiology of neurodegenerative processes in an elderly population.

Taylor Ariko

Taylor Ariko received her BS in Chemical Engineering with a major in Biomedical Engineering at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering at Florida State University, graduating with Magna Cum Laude and Honors in the Major. She worked at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) during her junior and senior year under the mentorship of Dr. Samuel C. Grant PhD, gaining experience in high-field MR scanning and image processing. During her time at the MagLab, Taylor was involved in the 2019 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program and defended an Undergraduate Honors Thesis on Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Neural Structural Connectivity in a Transgenic Model of Alzheimer’s Disease and Ischemic Stroke Recovery. Taylor is currently a Dean’s fellow in the Biomedical Engineering PhD program at the University of Miami. She is working under the mentorship of Dr. Tatjana Rundek MD, PhD studying Carotid Ultrasound markers of Atherosclerosis in patients at risk of Alzheimer’s from the 1Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Her long-term goal is to utilize imaging techniques to study biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases.