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.
Jana’s life is a continuous discovery of new passions and interests. Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Jana’s passion for the outdoors, adventure and curiosity was determined at birth. In between camping and fishing with her family, she competed on a high level on the junior tennis circuit and eventually became a recruited athlete to Cornell University. This is where she found her passion for genetics and how this science impacts people and their lives. She went on to the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health and completed a Master of Science in genetic counseling.
Zoe is a speech-language pathologist at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center in the ALBA Language Neurobiology Lab led by Dr. Marilu Gorno Tempini. Zoe has a BS degree in Cognitive Science with a specialization in neuroscience from UC San Diego and an MS degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Tee is a neurologist from Taiwan and an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute. She completed her medical and master’s degrees at National Taiwan University and her residency at National Taiwan University Hospital and En-Chu-Kong Hospital. She co-directs the Chinese outreach effort at UCSF Memory and Aging Center.
Sarah Inkelis is an assistant professor at the Memory and Aging Center. She completed her neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship at the UCSF Dyslexia Center after earning her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology at the SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program and finishing her internship in pediatric neuropsychology at the UCLA Semel Institute. Her PhD research examined neurobehavioral outcomes of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, with a particular emphasis on the relationships between sleep and neurodevelopment.
Rian graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2018 with a BS degree in Biology and has over five years of research experience at UCSF. As the ALBA Language Neurobiology Lab and Dyslexia Center's Database Architect, he develops and implements database systems for both teams, leveraging his experience in data management, data analysis, and neuroimaging.
Maria Luisa Mandelli leads the neuroimaging research within the language team of the Memory and Aging Center. Her research focuses on neuroanatomical changes caused by language and other neurodegenerative disorders. She has been working on brain magnetic resonance imaging for the past ten years, with the goal of better understanding of how the brain develops, changes over time, and how it makes us who we are.
Dr. Jessica de Leon received her undergraduate degrees in neuroscience and Spanish at the Johns Hopkins University and an MD with thesis degree at UCSF. She then completed a medicine internship and neurology residency at UCSF, where she served as chief resident.