Bettina Pedemonte completed a PhD in Mathematics in Italy at Genoa University and a PhD in Mathematics Education in France at Grenoble University. She has experience in teaching mathematics, in particular to students with learning disorders. She designed technological environments to support mathematical learning. Her research interests include understanding cognitive processes involved in solving mathematical problems and finding new teaching methods to support mathematical learning. Bettina joined UCSF in March 2018, specializing in designing a battery for dyscalculia.
In addition to her doctorate degree in Developmental Neuroscience from the University of Pisa, Francesca Pei brings over 20 years of leadership, operational management and strategic planning in a variety of health care, research, academic and education settings. She joined UCSF in 2022 as the Chief Operating Officer for Applied Neuroscience projects in the ALBA Lab at the MAC.
Dr. Pereira graduated from the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology-Stanford PsyD Consortium in 2014. She has a background in psychology, developmental biology, neuroimaging and neuropsychology. Her research interests include brain development across the lifespan. She is currently working on a pediatric HIV brain imaging study with Dr. Victor Valcour.
When she is not working, she enjoys spending time outdoors, watching movies, playing soccer, and listening to jazz.
Mariah L. Pospisil, M.Ed, is a lifelong educator and advocate for students with dyslexia. After receiving her A.B. in Psychology from Harvard College, Mariah earned her teaching credential and Master of Education as an Education Specialist, Mild/Moderate from Notre Dame de Namur University.
Siddarth graduated from UC Berkeley in 2024 with a Bachelor's in Cognitive Science and Psychology and a minor in Data Science. He joined the ALBA Lab as a Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator on the Language/PPA Team. At UC Berkeley, Sid worked with Dr. Matthew Walker at the Center of Human Sleep Science on a longitudinal study with elder adults investigating the role of sleep in wellness and disease. Sid is interested in studying the mechanisms behind neurodegeneration and protective factors, along with focusing interventions to underserved communities.
David is a Staff Research Associate at the ALBA Lab working under Dr. Jet Vonk on dementia research. He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Computer Science and has previously worked at the Taub Institute at Columbia University Medical Center. His work focuses on generating new automated methods for analyzing verbal fluency across different languages.
Dr. Tee is a neurologist from Taiwan and an Atlantic fellow for Equity in Brain Health at Global Brain Health Institute. She completed her medical and master degree at National Taiwan University and her residency at National Taiwan University Hospital/ En-Chu-Kong Hospital. Her research interest focused on developing linguistic adapted language assessment tools for Chinese speaking populations that suffers from neurodegenerative diseases.
Lucienne Vintaer is the Executive Administrative Assistant to Dr. Maria Luisa Gorno Tempini. Born and raised in San Francisco, she earned her BA degree at Scripps College of the Claremont Consortium and found her interest in organizational administration working for the University's Disability Resource Center, serving individuals with varying neurodivergence.
Jet Vonk is an Assistant Professor at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology. She received her PhD degree in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences from the City University of New York Graduate Center, with a focus on neurolinguistics and cognitive science. She also maintains an affiliation with the Department of Epidemiology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, where she is currently obtaining a second PhD in Epidemiology.
