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Meet the Team
Principal Investigators
Dr. Erin Sundermann
Dr. Erin Sundermann is a cognitive neuroscientist with a broad research scope in Alzheimer's disease and cognitive aging. Within that scope, she focuses on sex differences and the discovery of sex-specific biomarkers and risk factors for AD as well as the manifestation of Alzheimer's disease in the context of HIV.
Dr. Sarah Banks
Dr. Sarah Banks is the Director of the Neuropsychology Program, Center for Memory Disorders and Brain Health. Her research uses multimodal imaging, cognitive testing and genetics to better understand sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease.
Research Staff
Ella T. Lifset, BS
Clinical Research Coordinator
Ella Lifset graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Biology and Bachelor’s of Arts in Linguistics at the University of California, San Diego. She has been involved in research with the Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Palliative Care at UCSD Health, as well as at Mirati Therapeutics, a cancer biotechnology company in La Jolla, California. Her research interests focus on investigating the biological bases of human diseases and applying these findings to clinical care. She plans to pursue medical school in the future.
Nadine Heyworth, PhD
Program Manager (WITS/BWITS)
Dr. Nadine Heyworth received her Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology at Boston University and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at the Boston VA Hospital, and in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD. Her research interests focus on age-related cognitive function and the underlying neuronal processes involved in learning and memory in older adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease. She previously managed drug-intervention clinical trials at the UCSD ADRC and served as the liaison between the community, researchers, and sponsors interested in clinical research studies.
Charlotte Rivera, BS
Charlotte Rivera graduated from University of California, San Diego where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Clinical Psychology. Since then, she worked in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD coordinating projects investigating cognitive impairments in patients with hippocampal and larger medial temporal lobe damage. In 2021, she transferred to the Department of Neurosciences where she manages projects investigating cognitive and microstructural changes in preclinical Alzheimer's disease.
Neurologists
Gabriel Léger, MD
Doug Galasko, MD
Gabriel Léger, MD, is a board-certified neurologist who specializes in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. He has expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of atypical or focal dementias, including frontotemporal dementia (FTD), primary progressive aphasia, posterior cortical atrophy, and dementia with Lewy bodies including Parkinson's disease dementia. He is working to expand patient care by developing a new multidisciplinary memory disorders clinic at UC San Diego Health.
Douglas Galasko, MD, is a board-certified neurologist with broad expertise in assessing people with changes in memory and cognition, including Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal degeneration, dementia with Lewy bodies and cognitive problems associated with Parkinson's disease. Dr. Galasko is associate director of the UC San Diego Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, and has conducted research on Alzheimer's and related disorders for over 25 years.
Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers
Kitty Lui, BS
Joy Stradford, MS
she/her/hers
Graduate Student Researcher
Graduate Student Researcher
(WITS/BWITS)
Kitty Lui graduated with a degree in Cognitive Sciences and Education Sciences at the University of California Irvine. She is now a doctoral student in the SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology under the mentorship of Dr. Sarah Banks. She is interested in the influence of sleep on Alzheimer’s Disease and cognition. She is also interested in exploring subjective cognitive decline as a risk factor and early detection tool for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Joy Stradford graduated with a B.S. in Psychology from Howard University and a M.S. in Neuroimaging and Informatics from the University of Southern California. Joy is now a doctoral student in the SDSU/ UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology under the mentorship of Dr. Erin Sundermann and Dr. Sarah Banks. Joy is interested in identifying race and sex disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), and uncovering solutions to promote better health outcomes for minoritized communities. Joy also has a specific interest in the interaction between grief and health outcomes in older adults.
Shelby Hughes, M.Ed
Jordan Stiver, PhD
he/him/his
Graduate Student Researcher
Clinical Neuropsychology Fellow
Shelby Hughes graduated with a M.Ed. In Clinical Psychological Assessment from Vanderbilt University. She is now a doctoral student in the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology under the mentorship of Drs. Erin Sundermann and Sarah Banks. Her research focuses on subjective cognitive decline's association with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and how various lifestyle factors impact this association, especially among women.
Dr. Jordan Stiver graduated from Fordham University in 2023 with a PhD in Clinical Psychology, having completed his predoctoral internship in clinical neuropsychology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center - Zucker Hillside Hospital. Dr. Stiver joined the Banks lab in 2023 as a postdoctoral fellow in clinical neuropsychology. In addition to his research, he also conducts comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations for older adults through the UC San Diego Center for Brain Health and Memory Disorders. Dr. Stiver is interested in understanding the relationships between rest-activity patterns, sociocultural factors, and neuropsychological functioning in older adults with and without cognitive disorders.
Emma Rice, BS
she/her/hers
Graduate Student Researcher
Emma Rice graduated with her Bachelors of Science in neuroscience from the University of Southern California and is currently a medical student at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She is interested in research regarding diseases of aging, especially neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and her clinical interests include geriatrics and neurology
Undergraduate Students and Volunteers
Manjot Kaur
MADURA Intern
Manjot Kaur is currently pursuing a BS in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in General Biology at the University of California, San Diego. As a MADURA fellow, she is interested in studying neurodegenerative diseases in diverse populations, particularly those underrepresented in existing research. After college, she hopes to pursue a career in clinical research.
Kayla T. Ponce
Student Intern
Kayla Ponce is graduating with a B.S. in Cognitive Science specializing in Neuroscience from UC San Diego. She is interested in the research and pathology of neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. She is planning on continuing her education in Cognitive Neuroscience.
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