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.
Hannah graduated from Cornell University in May 2023 with dual degrees in Music and Biology with a concentration in Neurobiology and Behavior. After graduating, she spent a year and a half as a Clinical Research Coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she worked with Huntington’s disease patients as part of The Rosas Lab. She is excited to be part of Dr.
Dr. Maria Luisa Gorno Tempini is a behavioral neurologist, currently directing the Language Neurobiology laboratory of the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and the UCSF Dyslexia Center. She also directs the state-funded Multitudes Universal Screening Project, one of the four reading difficulties risk screeners approved by a state appointed panel for use in California public schools beginning in Fall of 2025. She obtained her medical degree and clinical neurology specialty training in Italy, and has a PhD in the neuroimaging of language from University College London.
Sydney is an Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator working alongside Dr. Tanisha Hill-Jarrett, applying intersectionality theory to understand how psychosocial stressors and structural racism and sexism impact Black women's cognitive aging and confer risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).
Aidyn was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In May 2024, she graduated from Whitman College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in biology. She previously worked as a student researcher in the Psychology Department at Whitman College, investigating the effect of language framing on victim-blaming attitudes and prosocial behavior. Aidyn is now an Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator for the PET program in the Rabinovici Lab at the Memory and Aging Center.
Leslie Magana is a clinical research coordinator in the Memory and Aging Center working with Dr. Howie Rosen and Cecilia Alagappan. In this role, she oversees the ADDPCP (Advancing the Diagnosis of Dementia in Primary Care Practice) project, focused on improving primary care assessment and the diagnosis of dementia using the Assessment of Cognitive Complaints Toolkit.
Lyzzette graduated from UC Merced with a BS degree in Cognitive Science and a minor in Psychology before she obtained her Master's degree in Neuroimaging and Informatics from the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine. During her master's program, she joined Dr.
Matenyeh supports faculty and fellows in the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) to conduct research projects in East Africa, including HMCA-DP and BRIDGE Africa.
Whitney Walker is a dedicated Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist with over a decade of acute care experience at UCSF. Originally from Connecticut, she brings over 13 years of expertise in acute transitional and ICU clinical settings. Whitney previously held the role of Lead Clinical Trials Nurse at the UCSF Neuroscience Clinical Research Unit, where she honed her skills in clinical research and patient care.
Celina graduated from the University of San Diego with a BA degree in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Philosophy before she obtained her MS degree in Neuroimaging and Informatics from the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.
Ethan is a postdoctoral scholar at the Memory and Aging Center interested in understanding how genetic variation contributes to the development of neurodegenerative disease. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cell biology and earned a PhD in 2013 from the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, in the laboratory of Dr. Kathleen M. Giacomini.
