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.
Song Hua Li has a BS degree in biotechnology from UC Davis and has been working as a histotechnologist since 2015. She joined the Grinberg Lab in June 2019 and runs the histology experiments.
Winnie brings extensive experience in project management, software development and web technologies to the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) through her work across many industries including non-profit scientific publishing, biotechnology, human resources software, consulting and legal services.
Rian graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2018 with a BS degree in Biology and has over five years of research experience at UCSF. As the ALBA Language Neurobiology Lab and Dyslexia Center's Database Architect, he develops and implements database systems for both teams, leveraging his experience in data management, data analysis, and neuroimaging.
Ms. Smith is the clinical research supervisor working directly with the Rabinovici Lab and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. She works closely with both faculty and staff in monitoring operational issues, regulatory compliance and project development. Ms. Smith brings many years of experience in clinical and non-clinical trials across a variety of funding mechanisms and disciplines. Prior to coming to the Memory and Aging Center in April 2019, Ms.
Mindy supports the learning environment at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), both online and in the classroom. She is adapting her expertise as a teacher educator from traditional classroom environments for a "flipped" class and remote learning while also supporting faculty to adapt content for this new environment.
Charles Windon, MD, is an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. In this role, he participates in the clinical care of those with neurodegenerative disease and also participates in the research evaluations of those referred to the Memory and Aging Center with a multitude of neurological conditions. Charles is also involved in the community outreach program at the MAC, with a particular interest in outreach to underserved communities, especially the African American community within the San Francisco Bay Area.
Dr. David N. Soleimani-Meigooni is a neurologist who cares for patients experiencing cognitive symptoms as a result of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
In research, Soleimani-Meigooni focuses on advancing precision-medicine approaches to diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. He looks at using positron emission tomography (PET) to image amyloid-beta and tau (protein fragments that accumulate in the brains of people with the condition).
Gloria Aguirre is an artist and community advocate who joined the Memory and Aging Center in 2019. She is an Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity based at George Washington University in Washington D.C. and serves as Artistic Director of Creative Minds, the San Francisco community arts for brain health initiative, and Community Engagement Manager for the Community Outreach Program at the MAC.
Dr. Staffaroni is a clinical neuropsychologist and Associate Professor at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. His research focuses on improving early detection, prognosis, and monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases through a combination of clinical tests, neuroimaging, and blood-based biomarkers. He leads studies of remote digital data collection in frontotemporal dementia using smartphone assessments and sensor technologies.
Niall Kavanagh is a communications officer with the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI). Based at UCSF, he is responsible for developing and sharing the stories and messages of GBHI and the Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health.
