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.
James was born and raised in Beijing, China. He graduated from Westmont College in December 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. His senior capstone project explored the effects of mindfulness meditation on people with mild cognitive impairment.
After graduation, he worked as a program specialist at Friendship Center Adult Day Services in Santa Barbara, where he organized and led memory-strengthening activities for older adults with dementia.
Dr. Gil Rabinovici holds the Edward Fein and Pearl Landrith 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 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.
Dr. Kamalini Ranasinghe received her medical degree from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and completed her internship training in general medicine and general surgery. She earned her doctorate degree in Cognition and Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas, under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Kilgard.
Dr. Kate Rankin is a professor in the UCSF Department of Neurology who specializes in the neuropsychological, neuroanatomic and genetic underpinnings of human socioemotional behavior in healthy aging and neurodegenerative disease. She studied psychology at Yale for her undergraduate work and received graduate degrees from Fuller School of Psychology in Pasadena, including her PhD degree in clinical psychology and a master’s degree in theology.
Myrthe Rijpma is a visiting scholar from the Netherlands. She obtained her bachelor degree in clinical and neuropsychology in 2015, and she is currently working on her master in neuropsychology at the University of Utrecht. Myrthe joined the Rankin lab in March 2017 because of her interest in understanding changes in neural networks in neurodegenerative diseases. Her goal is to acquire a better understanding on how the brain is made up, and eventually contribute to developing better treatment.
Oscar is the Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator at the Yokoyama Lab. He supports the research focusing on the genetic, structural and cognitive characterization of Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia in Central and South American populations.
Salma was born and raised in Orange County, California. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Molecular and Cell Biology: Neurobiology and Spanish Linguistics. She is now working as an Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator to aid with various studies related to Alzheimer's disease in the Rabinovici Lab.
Anne-Marie Rodriguez received her BS degree in biology & neuroscience and her BA degree in Spanish at the University of Portland. She works as an assistant clinical research coordinator for the Brain Health Assessment study with Dr. Katherine Possin. Anne-Marie’s interested in neurodegenerative diseases and TBIs, particularly working with the Spanish speaking population.
In her free time, Anne-Marie enjoys wine-making and exploring the outdoors.
Julio Rojas is a neurologist who specializes in dementia, caring for patients with cognitive difficulties or behavioral changes resulting from conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia (a form of dementia that causes cognitive defects and Parkinson’s-like symptoms), frontotemporal dementia (a common cause of dementia in younger adults that features behavioral changes) and progressive supranuclear pa
Lisa graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in neuroscience. As an undergraduate, she participated in neurodegenerative disease research with Penn’s Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research and Columbia University’s Taub Institute. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Lisa is proud to serve the UCSF community as a clinical research coordinator on the Boxer Clinical Trials team.
Dr. Rosen is a behavioral neurologist and holds the Dorothy Kirsten French Foundation Endowed Professorship for Parkinsonian and Other Neurodegenerative Disorders. He received his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine, trained in internal medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and subsequently completed a neurology residency at UCSF. After residency, Dr. Rosen pursued fellowship training in brain imaging at the Washington University School of Medicine, and then returned to UCSF to join the team at the Memory and Aging Center (MAC) in 1999.
