Pathology

Sean Coulborn is a postdoctoral researcher at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, working under the mentorship of David Perry, MD. His research focuses on improving the certainty of clinical diagnoses and predicting pathological diagnoses in neurodegenerative diseases.

Kaan grew up in Istanbul, Turkey, and finished medical school at Istanbul University. Following medical school, he pursued a research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, where he focused on Alzheimer’s disease genetics, transcriptomics, and blood-based biomarkers with a focus on underrepresented minorities. He did his neurology residency at the University of Iowa, being one of the chief residents in his final year of training.

Dr. Luke Fischer (he/him) is a neurologist and neuroscientist specializing in Lewy body disease. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Michigan State University with dual degrees in philosophy and biochemistry and molecular biology. He went on to complete a dual MD/PhD program, earning his doctorate in neuroscience in Dr. Caryl E. Sortwell’s laboratory. As a trainee at the NINDS Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson’s Disease Research, Dr.

Stephanie joined the Seeley Selective Vulnerability Research Laboratory in October 2007 as an Associate Specialist. Her background is in sleep and circadian rhythms research, including neuroanatomy. She completed a doctorate in neurobiology (CB Saper, Harvard University), a master's in medical science (Harvard Medical School), and a postdoc focusing on narcolepsy (E Mignot, Stanford University/Howard Hughes Medical Institute). In the Seeley lab, Stephanie is helping to characterize von Economo neurons in health and disease.

Maria joined the Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center in February 2021 as administrative manager, providing operational, analytical, and administrative support to the Neurodegenerative Disease Brain Bank. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education with minors in mathematics and Spanish literature from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sevinç joined the Seeley Lab as a postdoctoral scholar in October 2023. She earned a BSc degree in molecular biology and genetics from Boğaziçi University in Turkey. She then moved to Germany, where she completed an MSc degree in developmental and stem cell biology at Heidelberg University. For her master’s thesis, she focused on establishing culture conditions for circulating tumor cells from breast cancer patients in the lab of Andreas Trumpp at the German Cancer Research Center.

Sarah Kaufman, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist dedicated to advancing our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular focus on frontotemporal dementia and tauopathies. She earned her undergraduate degree in molecular and cell biology, with a focus on neuroscience, from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Kaufman then completed her MD and PhD through the Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University in St. Louis, where her graduate research, conducted in Dr.

Wenda joined the Memory and Aging Center in March 2015 to support efforts in researching brain aging and associated disorders. Prior to moving to the United States in 2014, Wenda worked as an executive assistant in a private company in Hong Kong for 19 years, assisting in the overall management and operation of the company. Wenda supports and manages the administrative needs in the pathology labs. She intends to continue working in the field of medical research, particularly in the specialty of brain disease.

Norbert Lee joined Dr. Seeley's Selective Vulnerability Research Laboratory as a Staff Research Associate in 2010. He assists with brain banking and other histology technician functions.