Director & Principal Investigator
Kristine Yaffe, MD
Scola Endowed Chair and Epstein Endowed Chair and Vice Chair, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Epidemiology, & Director of the Center for Population Brain Health at UCSF
Professor Yaffe is an internationally renowned expert in the epidemiology of cognitive aging and AD/ADRD. Her research group pioneered the finding that 30-40% of dementia risk is preventable, identifying key modifiable factors like sleep disorders, physical activity, and traumatic brain injury. She serves as PI/Multiple PI of nearly a dozen major research grants and has published over 800 peer-reviewed articles (H-index=185). For her groundbreaking work in dementia prevention, Prof. Yaffe has received prestigious honors from the American Academy of Neurology, NIH, and Department of Veterans Affairs. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2019.
Faculty
Shea Andrews, PhD
Assistant Professor & Genetic Epidemiologist, Department of Psychiatry at UCSF
Research Focus: Genetic susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease (AD), using causal inference to identify risk factors and investigating mitochondrial genetics in the disease
W. John Boscardin, PhD
Professor, Department of Medicine and Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at UCSF
Research Focus: Analysis of longitudinal and repeated measures data, treatment of missing data, Bayesian statistical modeling, and computational statistics
Willa Brenowitz, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF & Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research
Research Focus: Role of multimorbidity in cognitive decline, specifically focusing on the relationship between sensory impairments (e.g., hearing and vision loss) and dementia in older adults
Raquel Gardner, MD
Director of Clinical Research, Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center at Sheba Medical Center
Research Focus: Epidemiology and mechanisms of long-term sequelae of traumatic brain injury in older adults, to improve outcomes in this vulnerable population
Erica Kornblith, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry at UCSF
Research Focus: Cognitive rehabilitation for Veterans with TBI and polytrauma, identifying response factors, and using technology to increase treatment access.
Yue Leng, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry at UCSF
Research Focus: Epidemiology of sleep, particularly the relationship between sleep, cognition, and other health outcomes
Affiliated Junior Faculty
Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University
Research Focus: Improve the understanding of how social and cardiovascular exposures from across the life course influence cognitive aging, ADRD, and other related health outcomes in older age
Laurent Cleret De Langavant, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Paris Est University
Research Focus: Population surveys of aging on people living in more than 30 countries from 4 continents (America, Africa, Europe, Asia) to identify country-specific risk factors for dementia
Kaitlin Casaletto, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Neurology at UCSF
Research Focus: Applying novel molecular fluid biomarkers to highlight relevant neurobiological pathways related to resilient aging
Krista Harrison, PhD
Associate Professor, Division of Geriatrics at UCSF & Atlantic Senior Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Global Brain Health Institute
Research Focus: Improving systems of care for home-dwelling older adults with dementia and other serious illnesses
Lauren Hunt, PhD, RN, FNP
Associate Professor, Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF
Research Focus: Understanding the geriatric palliative care needs and experiences of older adults with dementia across care settings
Ashwin Kotwal, MD
Associate Professor, Division of Geriatrics at UCSF
Research Focus: Understanding and enhancing social connections of older adults to improve their quality of life and health care access
Matthew Growdon, MD, MPH
Geriatrician & Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics at UCSF
Research Focus: Improving care quality and prescribing practices for older adults with dementia and cognitive impairment through health services research
Postdoctoral Researchers
Regina Paradela, PhD
Neuroscientist & Postdoctoral Fellow, Global Brain Health Institute
Research Focus: Prevalence of modifiable risk factors in dementia and their associations within diverse populations
Anna VandeBunte, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neurology at UCSF
Research Focus: Cerebrovascular burden as it relates to exercise, cognitive aging and cardiovascular health
Christina S. Dintica, PhD
Epidemiologist & Postdoctoral Fellow, UCSF
Research Focus: Vascular risk factors and subclinical cardiovascular disease markers in relation to cognitive outcomes and brain aging neuroimaging
Clémence Cavaillès, PhD
Epidemiologist & Postdoctoral Fellow, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
Research Focus: Relationship between sleep patterns and dementia
Dillys Xiaodi Liu, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychiatry at UCSF
Research Focus: Sleep, brain health, and machine learning
Nathaniel Fleming, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Weill Institute for Neuroscience at UCSF
Research Focus: Risk factors for neurodegenerative outcomes
Michelle Caunca, MD, PhD
Physician-Scientist & Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neurology at UCSF
Research Focus: Multilevel predictors of cerebrovascular disease, dementia, and cognitive impairment
Lab Staff
Amber Bahorik, PhD
Data Core Manager
Research Focus: Leading data core and supporting study design and analytics
Kathy Fung, MS
Data Analyst
Research Focus: Multiple analytic projects on dementia risk in Veterans
Tina Hoang, MPH
Yaffe Group Manager
Research focus: Modifiable risk factors for cognitive aging, including cardiovascular risk, with an emphasis on these relationships over the life course
Carrie Peltz, PhD
Project Coordinator
Research Focus: Traumatic brain injury (TBI), dementia, military risk factors in Veterans, and modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease
Alice Roberts, MA
Yaffe Group Research Manager
Research Focus: Oversight and award management for Dr. Yaffe’s NIH, DoD, and foundation grant portfolio
Feng Xia, MPH
Programmer
Research Focus: Leading statistical analyses for ongoing Yaffe Group studies, including CARDIA and LIMBIC
Alexa Knuth, DPT
Clinical Research Health Educator
Research Focus: Development and implementation of risk factor reduction interventions in Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury
Katy Shin, BSH
Research Associate II
Research Focus: Daily study coordination and research support, with a focus on psychiatric risk factors and comorbidities for brain health decline across the lifespan