Meet the Team

Aimee Kao, MD, PhD, is a professor of neurology at UC San Francisco in the Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center and is a John Douglas French Foundation Endowed Professor. She is a leader in neurodegenerative disease research and patient care, with expertise in diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body disease, and frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

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.

Niall Kavanagh is a communications officer with the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI). Based at UCSF, he is responsible for developing and sharing the stories and messages of GBHI and the Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health.

Willa is a speech-language pathologist at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center in the ALBA Language Neurobiology Lab. Willa has a BA degree in Psychology from Lewis & Clark College and an MA degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Alessandra serves as the primary point of contact for the Atlantic Fellows program at GBHI. While monitoring the fellows' progress and providing programmatic support, she facilitates connections within the Memory and Aging Center and the UCSF community.

Before joining the GBHI team, Alessandra was the Program Assistant for the Pre-licensure Programs in the School of Nursing & Health Professions at the University of San Francisco, where she provided academic support and health education to nursing students.

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.

Dr. Kramer is a Professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology, the Director of the Memory and Aging Center Neuropsychology program, and the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation Endowed Professor at UCSF. He earned his doctorate in psychology at Baylor University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at the Martinez VA hospital. Dr. Kramer is board certified in clinical neuropsychology.

Lisa Kritikos earned her master’s degree in nursing at the UCSF School of Nursing and is certified as an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).

Lynn Kurteff, PhD, CF-SLP, is a postdoctoral scholar in the ALBA Lab at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center. Their research focuses on primary progressive aphasia (PPA), exploring the complex relationship between neurodegenerative diseases and the coordination of motor systems during speech production.

Stephanie was born and raised in Hong Kong. She attended the University of California, Berkeley and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cognitive Science and Linguistics. At the Memory and Aging Center, she coordinates visits for Chinese-speaking participants. She aims to pursue a graduate degree in speech language pathology in the near future. 

Renaud La Joie, PhD, is the Edward and Pearl Fein Endowed Professor in Precision Care for Memory Disorders at UCSF. He is a neuroscientist and neuroimaging expert whose research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that drive Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Using advanced brain imaging techniques, fluid biomarkers, and neuropsychological measures, Dr. La Joie seeks to unravel the drivers of clinical heterogeneity in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.