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.
Dr. Luke Fischer (he/his) is a neurologist-neuroscientist with an interest in Lewy body disease. 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.
Chloe France earned a Master of Social Welfare degree at the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining the Memory and Aging Center, Chloe worked as a social worker at a memory care facility, working closely with residents and their families. Chloe has worked in long-term care settings and inpatient services and provided in-home visits. Chloe loves to work with families and patients to find solutions, provide support and improve the quality of life of those living with dementia.
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.
Claudio graduated from California State University East Bay with a BS degree in Health Science: Pre-Clinical Medicine. Coming from an immigrant family, Claudio strives to create a sphere of inclusion for underserved communities in clinical research.
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).
Ms. Gearhart received her undergraduate degree in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. She began her nursing career at Johns Hopkins Hospital where she worked in acute care on Osler 4 General Medicine. Ms. Gearhart continued working in general medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center where she was nurse manager. She received her master's degree in Nursing Administration at UCSF and is certified as a Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist by the American Nurses Association Credentialing Center.
