Healthy Aging

Shaista Afzal is a research coordinator for the Brain Aging Network for Cognitive Health (BRANCH) program.

Jessica is a research coordinator in Dr. Joel Kramer’s lab, working primarily on the MarkVCID study. She graduated with a BA degree in Neurobiology from UC Berkeley in May of 2024 and hopes to continue pursuing her interests in neurodegenerative diseases as well as becoming a neurosurgeon.

Lana is a research coordinator in Dr. Joel Kramer’s lab working primarily on the Active Mind Clinical Trial as well as the Brain Aging Network for Cognitive Health study and the Mechanisms of Executive Decline study. She graduated with a BS degree in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior from UC Davis in June 2022

Kaitlin Casaletto, PhD, is a board-certified neuropsychologist, scientist-practitioner, and Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center.

Coty is a research coordinator for Dr. Kaitlin Casaletto’s Activities for Aging Neurogenesis study, an intervention-based study investigating the relationship between lifestyle factors and protein markers of neural functioning. She graduated with a BS degree in Clinical Psychology from UC San Diego.

Valentina joined Dr. Joel Kramer’s lab as a research coordinator in September of 2021 and works primarily on the Healthy Brain Aging study as well as the Mechanisms of Executive Decline study. She graduated with a BA degree in Neurobiology from UC Berkeley in May of 2021 and has interests in neurodegenerative disorders with plans of becoming a neurosurgeon.

Joel Kramer, PsyD, is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and professor of neuropsychology in the Department of Neurology at UCSF. He serves as the Director of the Neuropsychology Program at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center and holds the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation Endowed Professorship.

Sophia is a research coordinator in Dr. Joel Kramer’s lab working primarily on the Brain Aging Network for Cognitive Health study and the Mechanisms of Executive Decline study. She graduated with a BA degree in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley in 2024.

Carina is a research coordinator in Dr. Joel Kramer’s lab, working primarily on Dr. Kramer’s Healthy Aging studies. She graduated with a BS degree in biology from Tufts University in May 2023.

Albert is a data engineer working on the Brain Aging Network for Cognitive Health study building reproducible data pipelines. He graduated with a BA degree in Computer Science from UC Berkeley in 2017.