GBHI

Gloria Aguirre is an artist and community advocate who has been part of the Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center since 2019. She is an Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and serves as the Artistic Director of Creative Minds, a San Francisco-based community arts initiative advancing brain health. She also works as the Community Engagement Manager for the Fein Memory and Aging Center’s Community Outreach Program.

Winston Chiong, MD, PhD, is the Mary Oakley Foundation Professor of Neuroethics in the UCSF Department of Neurology at the Weill Institute for Neurosciences, where he is based at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center. He is the principal investigator of the UCSF Decision Lab, and his clinical practice focuses on Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and other cognitive disorders of aging.

Aura leads the Pilot Awards Program at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) and supports other regional impact efforts during the fellowship year and beyond. She works closely with the mentorship team and contributes to projects related to leadership development, with a particular emphasis on program integration.

Michael Geschwind, MD, PhD, is a professor of neurology at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and a clinician-researcher at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center. Dr. Geschwind specializes in the evaluation, management, and treatment of rapidly progressive dementias, movement disorders, and neurogenetic conditions.

Maria Luisa Gorno Tempini, MD, PhD, is a behavioral neurologist and professor in the UCSF Department of Neurology at the Weill Institute for Neurosciences. She directs the Language Neurobiology Laboratory and the UCSF Dyslexia Center at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, where she researches the neural basis of language, memory, and cognitive functions across the lifespan.

Tanisha Hill-Jarrett, PhD, is a neuropsychologist and assistant professor of neurology at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, part of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. Her research focuses on how adverse social exposures, such as psychosocial stressors, structural discrimination, and inequitable access to opportunities, impact cognitive aging and increase risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD).

Shireen provides oversight for resource allocation, risk mitigation, budgeting, and logistics for the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. She works closely with the Department of Neurology and other groups to optimize the administration of the program within UCSF.

Matenyeh supports faculty and fellows at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) in conducting research projects in low- and middle-income countries, including BRIDGE-Global and BRIDGE-Africa.

Niall Kavanagh is a communications officer with the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), housed within the Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center. Based at UCSF, he is responsible for developing and sharing the stories and messages of GBHI and the Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health.

Alessandra serves as the primary point of contact for the Atlantic Fellows program at GBHI. While monitoring the fellows' progress and providing programmatic support, she facilitates connections within the Memory and Aging Center and the UCSF community.

Before joining the GBHI team, Alessandra was the Program Assistant for the Pre-licensure Programs in the School of Nursing & Health Professions at the University of San Francisco, where she provided academic support and health education to nursing students.