Mentors

Sachin Agarwal, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor of Neurology. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in neurological intensive care in the Department of Neurology's Division of Neurocritical Care and Hospitalist Neurology. He is an expert in post-cardiac arrest care, treatments, and outcomes.

Stacy Andersen, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Boston University School of Medicine. She is a behavioral neuroscientist and co-director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University. Her primary research interests lie in the study of exceptionally long-lived individuals and resilience to cognitive dysfunction in very old age.

Stephanie Assuras, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Neuropsychology in the Clinical Neuropsychology Service within the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience. Her primary clinical and research activities have focused on differential diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other movement disorders, and primary progressive aphasia.

Sandra M. Barral Rodriguez, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Neurogenetics in Neurology, the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain. Dr. Barral's research is primarily in the area of mapping genes contributing to the susceptibility for Alzheimer's disease and other human neurodegenerative disorders.

Korhan Buyukturkoglu, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Neurology at CUMC, focusing on identifying neuroimaging biomarkers of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer's disease. He uses machine learning methods to develop predictive models from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, aiming to detect cognitive decline early and improve diagnosis and treatment strategies for these neurological conditions.

Vanessa Guzman, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. Dr. Guzman’s research focuses on how vascular risk factors and vascular health disparities are related to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), with the goal of identifying factors contributing to risk and resilience in ADRD among racial and ethnic minorities.

Radhika Jagannathan, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Division of Aging and Dementia and the Taub Institute. Dr. Jagannathan specializes in treating patients with memory disorders in her Aging and Dementia practice and also sees patients with Huntington’s disease through the multidisciplinary Huntington's Disease Society of America Center of Excellence at Columbia.

Zarina Kraal, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Department of Neurology and the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center. She is a neuropsychologist whose research examines sources of stress and resilience that link cardiometabolic diseases and psychosocial function to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in racially and ethnically diverse groups.

Victoria Leavitt, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Neuropsychology in the Department of Neurology and Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center at CUMC. Her primary interest lies in understanding cognitive impairment and lifestyle factors that protect against cognitive decline in clinical populations, with a specialization in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Sandra Rizer, MA, is a psychometrist and coordinator of cognitive assessment for multiple research studies at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She received her BS in Criminal Justice and BA in Psychology from the University of New Haven and her MA in Psychology from Montclair State University. Her primary research interest is in teleneuropsychology and the validity and reliability of digital assessment.

Ayesha Sania, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Sania studies the role of early life exposures on child health and development outcomes relevant to maternal and child health programs and policy among the underserved population.

Sabrina Simoes, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences in Neurology and in the Taub Institute at CUMC. Dr. Simoes is a cellular neurobiologist who studies endosomal trafficking in normal and pathological conditions. Research in her lab focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), with special emphasis on endo-lysosomal dysfunction.

Preeti Sunderaraman, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Sunderaraman’s research focuses on financial decision-making, financial awareness, and financial loss in aging and neurodegenerative conditions.

Giuseppe Tosto, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences in Neurology, the Taub Institute, and the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center. Dr. Tosto is a genetic epidemiologist who works primarily on populations with admixed ancestry, such as Caribbean Hispanics and African Americans, and has funded projects on admixture mapping and RNA sequencing in the context of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Angeliki Tsapanou, MSc, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist in the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center. Dr. Tsapanou studied Psychology at the University of Athens. She continued her education with a master’s degree in clinical Neuropsychology at the Medical School of Athens and then pursued a PhD jointly between the University of Athens and Columbia University, New York. Her primary research examines sleep genetics and cognition.

Dr. Yousefzadeh’s laboratory investigates the role of cellular senescence in the aging process. In particular, they explore how aging within the immune system can drive whole-body aging and what mechanisms regulate this process. Lastly, they also investigate the role of senescent cells in neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis.