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.
Kristen joined the Selective Vulnerability Research Laboratory led by Dr. William Seeley in January 2022 as a research associate. She assists with neuroimaging data management and analysis. She received her BA degree in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis where she volunteered in the Cognitive Control and Psychopathology Lab.
D. Luke Fischer is a neurologist-neuroscientist with an interest in cognition in neuronal synucleinopathies. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Michigan State University with degrees in Philosophy and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and he remained there to complete his PhD degree in Neuroscience in the laboratory of Dr. Caryl E. Sortwell as part of a dual-MD/PhD program. As a trainee in the NINDS Morris K.
Taru received a bachelor of science degree in cognitive neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego and completed a PhD degree in psychology in the Self-Regulation Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin in 2016. She joined the Dementia Imaging Genetics Lab in 2017 to support neuroimaging methods for understanding the underlying biology of genetic variants of frontotemporal dementia.
Executive Administrative Assistant to Francesca Pei, PhD
Melina Flores has worked in healthcare for over 15 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management in 2015 and found working in the healthcare industry to be her passion, allowing her to nurture her desire to help others.
Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Celeste earned her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While there, she took several philosophy courses, inspiring her interest in bioethics. Afterwards, Celeste enrolled in the Masters of Bioethics program at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her thesis research consisted of examining ethical perspectives of identity in patients who had undergone deep brain stimulation for treatment resistant depression.
Adit Friedberg, MD, is a behavioral neurologist trained in the Department of Neurology in the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. She received her medical degree from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (cum laude). She also completed a degree in Biotechnology Engineering (cum laude) from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Adit is an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health. She is currently a research fellow at the Memory and Aging Center at UCSF.
Joanne graduated from San Francisco State University with a BS degree in microbiology and is pursuing Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) in the Kao Lab at UC San Francisco. She also helps manage the Biospecimens Core.
Stephany graduated from UC Riverside in 2017 with a BA degree in Psychology. At UC Riverside, Stephany was a research assistant, where she helped conduct research studies in the Childhood Cognition Lab within the Psychology Department. After graduating, she held various positions focusing on research, education and serving under-resourced communities.
Stephanie joined the Seeley Selective Vulnerability Research Laboratory in October 2007 as an Associate Specialist. Her background is in sleep and circadian rhythms research, including neuroanatomy. She completed a doctorate in neurobiology (CB Saper, Harvard University), a master's in medical science (Harvard Medical School), and a postdoc focusing on narcolepsy (E Mignot, Stanford University/Howard Hughes Medical Institute).
