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.
Ian joined the Grinberg Lab in the fall of 2018 as an undergraduate research assistant due to his interest in neurodegeneration, following years of research experience in behavioral and molecular neuroscience. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2021 with a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology and Data Science, he continued his work at the lab as a full-time staff research associate.
Jonathan graduated from UC Berkeley in 2018. He was first exposed to research was through UCSF's Diversity Scholar Program in the summer of 2015. Through this program, he received training in neuroscience lab techniques, computational science, and entrepreneurship. He joined the Grinberg Lab in fall 2015 as an undergraduate student. His goal is to pursue a medical career as a clinician in neurology.
Dr. Gowoon Son is a molecular and cellular neuroscientist and received her PhD degree from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and DGIST in South Korea in 2021. Her doctoral work focused on the neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease in the olfactory system. She identified the olfactory sensory neurons that generate amyloid-beta protein, which causes anosmia in Alzheimer’s disease, by using both genetically modified mouse models and human tissues. In addition, she discovered a potential non-invasive biomarker using human nasal fluid.
Ayesha graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bsc degree in Psychological Sciences where she primarily involved herself in researching family relationships and COVID-19 tracing and public health interventions. While on campus, she was also involved in outreach through founding and leading her club, Women in Psychology.
Alex Martinez-Arroyo graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in psychology with a minor in neuroscience in May 2021. While at the University of North Carolina, he worked in Dr. Prinstein's lab where he studied adolescent interpersonal relationships, depression, and suicide. He looked for subjective biomarkers of stress and their effect on mental health. Alex also worked in Dr. Muscatell's Social Neuroscience Lab where he studied how the brain responds to health messages in people from different cultural backgrounds.
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.
Aura coordinates the Pilot Awards program within the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI). She also works closely with the International Research Manager to support regional impact efforts, with a particular focus on subawards, contracts and vendor payments.
Brandon Holmes, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Memory and Aging Center (MAC). He completed his clinical fellowship at the MAC and his post-doctoral research in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the laboratory of James A. Wells, PhD, where he studies how microglia, the innate immune cells of the central nervous system, alter their proteome in the context of neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. Learn more about his research here.
