faculty

Dr. Silvia Russo is a board-certified neurologist specializing in behavioral neurology. She graduated summa cum laude from San Raffaele University School of Medicine in Milan, Italy, and completed a visiting scholarship at UCSF’s Memory and Aging Center, where she gained valuable experience in neurodegenerative disorders and developed a deeper commitment to caring for aging patients with cognitive decline.

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).

Emily Paolillo, PhD, is an assistant professor and neuropsychologist at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, part of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. Her clinical and research work is dedicated to enhancing the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Dr. Saloner is a scientist-practitioner and Assistant Professor at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. His research integrates deep molecular screening tools, including large-scale proteomics platforms and targeted biomarker assays, with longitudinal clinical phenotyping to discover molecular pathways and biomarker candidates that drive the earliest clinical manifestations of neurodegenerative disease. Dr.

Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas, PhD, is an assistant professor of neuroscience in the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center and the UCSF Dyslexia Center, both within the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. He studies the neural architecture and dynamics of human intelligence, with a focus on symbolic cognitive systems, including mathematics and language. His research explores how these systems develop, decline, and can be supported through innovative methods.

Shubir Dutt, PhD, is an assistant professor in the UCSF Department of Neurology at the Weill Institute for Neurosciences and a licensed clinical neuropsychologist at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center. Dr. Dutt specializes in the assessment and care of patients with cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), frontotemporal lobar degeneration spectrum disorders (FTLD), and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Sarah Kaufman, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist dedicated to advancing our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular focus on frontotemporal dementia and tauopathies. She earned her undergraduate degree in molecular and cell biology, with a focus on neuroscience, from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Kaufman then completed her MD and PhD through the Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University in St. Louis, where her graduate research, conducted in Dr.

Jet Vonk received her PhD degree in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences from the City University of New York Graduate Center, with a focus on neurolinguistics and cognitive science. She also maintains an affiliation with the Department of Epidemiology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, where she is currently obtaining a second PhD in Epidemiology.

Dr. Tee is a neurologist from Taiwan and an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute. She completed her medical and master’s degrees at National Taiwan University and her residency at National Taiwan University Hospital and En-Chu-Kong Hospital. She co-directs the Chinese outreach effort at UCSF Memory and Aging Center.