member

Movements are files of a person’s life, learned, reproduced, and altered as needed. There are external movements, those that make us act on objects and internal movements, and energy that we use in space and time. Clara’s interest in the body as a ‘depository of human expressiveness’ led her to a degree in Psychomotor Therapy with a master’s specialization in old age and mental health (University of Lisbon).

Courtney studied biological engineering and biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She then completed her MD/PhD at UT Southwestern. She trained with Dr. Joachim Herz studying ApoE receptor signaling in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. She identified a role for reelin, a protein that is vital for brain development, in protecting older rodents against amyloid beta, one of the primary pathology proteins that accumulate in Alzheimer's disease.

Tia graduated from UC Berkeley in 2020 after completing a dual degree in Integrative Biology and Molecular Environmental Biology. She started her research journey in 2018 as a research assistant at the Grinberg Lab practicing various wet lab techniques and focusing on the locus coeruleus' role as a biomarker for Alzheimer's disease.

Amy graduated from UC Berkeley in May 2020, where she majored in Molecular & Cellular Biology – Neurobiology and minored in Interdisciplinary Human Rights. Throughout her time at Cal, Amy completed an independent research project on the effects of individualized music on symptoms of agitation in persons with Alzheimer’s disease.

Maria joined the Memory and Aging Center in February 2021 as Administrative Manager to provide operational, analytical and administrative support to the Neurodegenerative Disease Brain Bank. She has a BA degree in education, with minors in mathematics and Spanish literature from the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining the MAC, Maria managed education programs, business solutions and strategic initiatives in the healthcare, insurance and financial services industries, both nationally and internationally.

Ashley is transitioning from a former career as a ballet dancer to a field of medicine, science and groundbreaking clinical research. She graduated magna cum laude with a performing arts degree in the Liberal Education for Arts Professionals (LEAP) program at Saint Mary’s College of California. While focusing on her artistry as a ballerina, she enjoyed traveling the world and experiencing unique cultures.

The Clelland laboratory aims to develop cures for dementia and related neurodegenerative diseases. She is focused on monogenic causes of frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, such as mutations in the C9orf72 gene. She and her team develop CRISPR gene editing approaches in relevant cell types derived from human iPSCs and are working to develop better cell model systems of disease.

Ranjani graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science specializing in Clinical Aspects of Cognition. She is extremely interested in and passionate about neurodegenerative disease research, especially Alzheimer’s disease. She now works at the Memory and Aging Center in Dr. Rabinovici’s In Vivo Molecular Neuroimaging Lab.

Annie joined the Memory and Aging Center as an Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator in April 2020 and works on the FTD program project grant, Frontotemporal Dementia: Genes, Images and Emotions. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and a double major in biology. During her time as an undergraduate, she was a part of the clinical geropsychology lab where she helped test a new measure of naming ability for older adults.