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.
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.
Fangda was enrolled in an 8-year MD program at Peking University in 2013. After obtaining his Bachelor of Medicine degree in 2018, he joined Prof. Edison’s lab at Imperial College London and was awarded his PhD degree in brain science. He continued his clinical program in 2021 and obtained his medical degree in neurology in 2024. He is now a post-doctoral researcher in TeeLab at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, with a focus on neuroimaging research.
Jacob completed his doctoral work in Neuroscience in the Jagust lab at UC Berkeley, where he investigated the effects of network connectivity on Alzheimer’s pathology spread and cognitive aging. His research utilizes fMRI and PET imaging to study the biological substrates of changes in cognition.
Ms. Soppe is the PET Program Clinical Research Supervisor working directly with the Rabinovici Lab. She is deeply involved with both faculty and staff in monitoring operational issues, regulatory compliance, and project development. Besides project management expertise, Carol brings over 20 years of research experience spanning fields from basic immunology, metabolic diseases, and oncology to transplantation and autoimmunity.
Dr. Dietz is originally from Penticton, British Columbia. He studied physiology and physics at McGill University in Montreal, where his research focused on characterizing candidate mechanosensitive ion channels using single-cell electrophysiology techniques. While at McGill, he became interested in neurology, neuropsychology, and brain-behavior relationships after reading the classic works of Drs. Wilder Penfield and Brenda Milner at the Montreal Neurological Institute.
Alex Weigand (she/they) is a first-year UCSF Clinical Psychology Training Program (CPTP) intern/fellow working at the Memory and Aging Center (MAC) as part of Dr. Possin's research group. She is coming to UCSF from her clinical psychology PhD program at San Diego State University/University of California San Diego.
Stefania Pezzoli completed her PhD degree in Neuroscience at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Her research aimed to investigate the neural and cognitive correlates of visual hallucinations in Lewy body disease and Alzheimer’s disease by integrating multimodal neuroimaging and neuropsychological measures.
Rowan graduated from Middlebury College in May 2024 with a major in Sociology and a minor in Global Health. She joined the UCSF Memory and Aging Center (MAC) in June 2024 as a clinical research coordinator in the Dementia Imaging Genetics Lab led by Dr. Suzee Lee, where she coordinates a study investigating the neurodevelopment of children from families with a history of frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Zoe was born and raised in Northern California. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in December of 2023 with a degree in Biology with a Neuroscience focus. Previously, Zoe worked as an undergraduate research associate in the Campbell Lab at WashU School of Medicine, investigating brain volume differences and volumetric progression patterns in Parkinson’s disease clinical subtypes through MRI imaging.
