People

Faculty

Meredith Braskie, PhD

Assistant Professor of Neurology

Director of Education Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute

I am personally and professionally committed to investigating Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk - particularly the mechanisms underlying earliest brain characteristics that may signal or contribute to future cognitive decline. I am especially interested in the contributions of vascular, metabolic, and inflammatory risk to AD-relevant brain measures in older adults. I am also interested in disease heterogeneity and how it relates to health disparities and sex differences.

PhD Student

Koral Wheeler, MS

I graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology & Pre-medicine. I obtained my Master’s degree in Neuroscience from Tulane University’s School of Science and Engineering where I became interested in neurodegenerative disease and aging research. Prior to becoming a PhD student in Neuroscience at USC, I worked in numerous research roles including as a research coordinator in the Cedars-Sinai Department of Neurology executing clinical trials for novel treatments for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). I am a PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Meredith Braskie and my research interests are focused on investigating relationships between sex, ethnicity, markers of inflammatory and cardiometabolic risk with early preclinical features of cognitive decline, neurodegeneration and amyloid and tau progression in ethnically diverse older adults.

PhD Student

Victoria Tennant

I received my undergraduate degree in Psychology from UC Berkeley. After graduating, I began working in Dr. William Jagust’s lab where I became trained in multimodal neuroimaging techniques for the study of brain aging and dementia. As a PhD candidate in the Braskie Lab, my research focuses on tau-PET methodology and the influence of metabolic biomarkers on spatial distributions of tau in ethnic and racially diverse groups.

PhD Student

Amaryllis Tsiknia, MS

I got my undergraduate degree in Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley and began exploring my interest in neuroscience research as an undergrad RA in Mark D’Esposito’s Cognitive Neuroscience lab at Cal. I then got an MS in Neuroimaging and Informatics from USC and worked as a graduate RA at the Institute for Creative Technologies. Shortly after, I took on a Staff Research Associate position under Dr. Sarah Banks and Dr. Emilie Reas at UC San Diego where I worked on various neuroimaging projects examining sex differences and early brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease. In 2022 I joined the Braskie Lab as a Ph.D. student and am currently studying the intersection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease in diverse populations.

PhD Student

Danielle Luu

I studied human biology at UC San Diego, where my interest in neuroscience began during my time working in a learning and memory lab at Scripps Research. Currently, my research involves the role of genetic variants in the progression and pathology of Alzheimer’s Disease, with a focus on neuroimaging modalities. I’m also exploring how Major Depressive Disorder impacts Alzheimer’s development and the aging population.

PhD Student

Zoe Tsokolas

I graduated with a BS from the University of Illinois where I studied Cognitive Neuroscience and Integrative Biology. In my undergraduate research, I utilized various neuroimaging modalities to examine the trajectory of cognitive decline and biomarker pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease. I simultaneously worked in a wet-lab setting at Northwestern Medicine, studying the role of long non-coding RNAs and their influence upon neuronal development. Currently, my research investigates the connection between metabolic and vascular markers in AD and how these factors might be targeted to prevent disease onset and pathogenesis.

Project Specialist

Noelle Lee

I graduated from the University of California Los Angeles with a BA in Psychology and a specialization in computing. I am interested in applying various neuroimaging modalities to Alzheimer's research. I would like to further improve processing methodologies for the analysis of our PI-2620 Tau PET scans.

Project Assistant

Samantha Nimmo

I am a recent graduate of Whittier College with a degree in Psychology. I am deeply passionate about mental health, as well as the cognitive and emotional development that shape learning and memory. In my current role as a Project Assistant in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research, I work with various imaging and statistical techniques to explore risk factors for AD, contributing to the broader understanding of AD.

Project Assistant

Marylan Davison, MS

I graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a BS in Biological Science and then continued my education at the University of Southern California with a MS in Neuroimaging and Informatics. Currently, I work on Alzheimer’s disease research and how different neuroimaging modalities can be applied to AD.

Project Assistant

Maxwell Hand, MS

I look to the future of translational research to bridge the gaps in our understanding of the structural brain, cognition, and human psychology. My main interests include: learning and memory, neuro-plasticity, the spectrum of mental health disorders, and clinical applications of cutting edge research. I am excited to make the field of neuroscience more understandable and approachable to the general public through outreach and community discussions.