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.
Hieu Pham received his BA degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology with an emphasis on Neurobiology from UC Berkeley. He is from Sacramento, California, and plans to pursue medical school in the future. At the Memory and Aging Center, Hieu is part of the team working on the frontotemporal dementia program project grant, Frontotemporal Dementia: Genes, Images and Emotions.
Stefanie Piña Escudero is a geriatrician working to understand and reduce the impact of social vulnerability on older adults with cognitive impairment. She is collaborating with the Multi-Partner Consortium to Expand Dementia Research in Latin America to develop a better understanding of dementia in the region with a special focus on social factors such as mistreatment.
Stefanie received her medical school training from the National University of Mexico where she completed her training in Geriatrics. She received her Internal Medicine training from La Salle University.;
Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas, PhD, studies the neural architecture and dynamics of human intelligence, focusing on symbolic cognitive systems, such as mathematics and language. His research program aims at understanding how these systems develop and decline and how we can help.
Mariah L. Pospisil, MEd, is a lifelong educator and advocate for students with dyslexia. After receiving her AB degree in Psychology from Harvard College, Mariah earned her teaching credential and Master of Education as an Education Specialist, Mild/Moderate from Notre Dame de Namur University. As a teacher, instructional coach, and school leader, Mariah focused on implementing instructional and social-emotional interventions to support students with dyslexia throughout their K–12 educational journeys.
Caroline Prioleau writes and designs content for the Memory and Aging Center and the Global Brain Health Institute. She started her training in science and medicine but transitioned to graphic design and communications after seeing how medical jargon could isolate those who needed information most. She believes that design and curiosity can make scientific knowledge more accessible to those who may not have a background in science.
Igor Prufer Q.C. Araujo obtained his MD degree at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He completed his neurology residency at Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas being the chief resident in his final year of training. His current research interests include the benefits of multilingualism to cognitive reserve, the neural basis of decision making and socioeconomic factors affecting dementia care.
Pongpat Putthinun is a health economist and postdoctoral scholar in the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. He joined the Decision Lab team, led by Dr. Winston Chiong, and is currently working on a project aimed at understanding how genetic predispositions to frontotemporal dementia influence decision-making in the pre-symptomatic phase. Through neuroeconomic methods, the research seeks to identify incidents of early impaired judgment that could lead to early intervention strategies to decelerate the onset of frontotemporal dementia.
Dr. Gil Rabinovici holds the Edward and Pearl Fein Distinguished Professorship in Memory & Aging in the UCSF Department of Neurology. He received his BS degree from Stanford University and MD from Northwestern University Medical School. He completed his neurology residency (and chief residency) at UCSF and a behavioral neurology fellowship at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center (MAC), where he cares for patients with cognitive disorders.
