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.
Jana has continuously explored new passions and interests throughout her life. Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, her love for the outdoors and adventure was evident from an early age. Between camping and fishing with her family, she competed at a high level in the junior tennis circuit, eventually becoming a recruited athlete at Cornell University. It was there that she discovered her passion for genetics and its impact on people’s lives.
Oscar is the Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator at the Yokoyama Lab. He supports the research focusing on the genetic, structural and cognitive characterization of Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia in Central and South American populations.
Alexis is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Data Science and a concentration in Urban Science. As an Undergraduate Research Assistant, Alexis studied the impact of the technology industry on housing in the Bay Area. Her specialities include data mapping and data visualization, and she is deeply interested in the intersections of neurology, data science, and social justice.
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.
The Clelland laboratory aims to develop cures for dementia and related neurodegenerative diseases. She is focused on single-gene (monogenic) causes of frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, such as mutations in the C9orf72 gene. She and her team develop CRISPR gene editing approaches in relevant cell types derived from human iPSCs and are working to develop better cell model systems of disease.
Ana Tyler, JD, MA, received her undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University and her law degree with a concentration in health law and policy and master’s degree in bioethics from Case Western Reserve University. After completing a fellowship in Clinical Ethics from Sutter Health (California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco), she worked as a clinical ethicist at Beaumont Health in the metro Detroit, Michigan area.
Sarat Vatsavayai received a master of science degree in Human Genetics from Andhra University, India. He then did his doctoral work in the field of Huntington’s disease at the Open University, UK, where he was characterizing a novel mouse model and was trying to find out if DNA repeat instability could modify disease progression. In July 2013, he joined Dr.
Jennifer Yokoyama obtained her doctorate degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics from UCSF in December 2010 with Dr. Steven Hamilton (Department of Psychiatry and Institute for Human Genetics). Her dissertation comprised work within the Canine Behavioral Genetics Project, utilizing purebred dogs as genetic models for studying neuropsychiatric disease. Utilizing community-based canine DNA samples, Dr.
Dr. Suzee Lee is a Professor of Neurology, the Director of the Dementia Imaging Genetics Lab, and the Director of the Visiting Scholars Program at the UCSF Weill Institute of Neuroscience’s Memory and Aging Center. Dr. Lee is a behavioral neurologist who received a BA degree in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard College and an MD degree from the McGill Faculty of Medicine.
