UCSF’s innovative, collaborative approach to patient care, research and education spans disciplines across the life sciences, making it a world leader in scientific discovery and its translation to improving health.
Dr. Staffaroni is a clinical neuropsychologist and Associate Professor at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. His research focuses on improving early detection, prognosis, and monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases through a combination of clinical tests, neuroimaging, and blood-based biomarkers. He leads studies of remote digital data collection in frontotemporal dementia using smartphone assessments and sensor technologies.
Christina Veziris is an assistant clinical research coordinator in the UCSF Clinical Affective Neuroscience (CAN) Lab. She graduated from the University of San Francisco in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and minors in neuroscience and health studies. She volunteered in the CAN lab for a year and then worked in the Relationships, Emotions, and Health Lab at San Francisco State University for three years using the Facial Action Coding System to code facial emotions.
Dr. Joanna Hellmuth is a neurologist with sub-specialty training in cognitive and behavioral neurology. She practices at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, where she evaluates and manages patients with mild cognitive impairment; neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body disease, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia; and patients with HIV-related cognitive changes. Dr.
Dr. Palser joined the Clinical Affective Neuroscience (CAN) Lab in December 2018. Eleanor works with the UCSF Dyslexia Center, studying social and emotional processing in neurodevelopmental conditions, such as dyslexia and autism. To do this, she combines self-report, physiological and neuroimaging methods. Previously, she received a PhD degree in cognitive neuroscience from University College London.
Collette coordinates the Brain Health Assessment study, led by Dr. Kate Possin, which aims to develop a set of cognitive tests to detect mild neurocognitive disorders in older adults of varying medical, cultural and educational backgrounds. She also works closely with primary clinics implementing the Brain Health Assessment in their practice and with Dr. Kate Possin and Dr.
Bettina Pedemonte completed a PhD degree in mathematics in Italy at Genoa University and a PhD degree in mathematics education in France at Grenoble University. She has experience in teaching mathematics, in particular to students with learning disorders. She designed technological environments to support mathematical learning. Her research interests include understanding cognitive processes involved in solving mathematical problems and finding new teaching methods to support mathematical learning. Bettina joined UCSF in March 2018, specializing in designing a battery for dyscalculia.
Elena Tsoy was awarded her PhD degree in counseling psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She completed her predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at Tewksbury State Hospital and her postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at UCSF Memory and Aging Center.
As an Assistant Professor of Neurology at UCSF, Dr. Lawren Vandevrede's overarching goal is to provide outstanding clinical care to patients with dementia and their caregivers. He completed his medical training in Chicago, where he also obtained a PhD degree in neuroscience working with his mentor to develop novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Nathaniel comes from Marin County and graduated from Stanford in 2018 with a degree in psychology. At Stanford he worked as a research assistant in Dr. James Gross’ lab studying the regulation of emotions in groups as well as the emotional dynamics between group members. Nathaniel also studied the effects of depression and anxiety on brain structures. At the Memory and Aging Center, he is a research coordinator in the Clinical Affective Neuroscience (CAN) Laboratory, led by Dr. Virginia Sturm.