Welcome New Faculty! July, 2022
Meet Dr. Miguel Arce Rentería
Neuropsychology
Dr. Miguel Arce Rentería is an assistant professor of neuropsychology at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain and the Department of Neurology at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is originally from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. He moved to the United States to pursue a college degree in psychology. After attending Southwestern Community College, he transferred to San Diego State University where he received a BA in Psychology in 2008. He then received his PhD in Clinical Psychology specializing in Neuropsychology and Health Psychology from Fordham University in 2017. He joined Columbia University in 2017 as a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Jennifer Manly and became an Associate Research Scientist in 2020 after being awarded a K99/R00 from the NIA. His research focuses on determining factors of reserve and resilience to cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) among racial/ethnic minorities such as understanding the role of bilingualism, and literacy. His K99/R00 largely focuses on deconstructing bilingualism and carefully accounting for key environmental and sociocultural factors (i.e., education, socioeconomic status, immigrant status) that influence the ability or opportunity to become bilingual to adequately evaluate the contributions of bilingualism to cognitive reserve among older Latinx adults.
Meet Dr. Gurcharanjeet Kaur
Child Neurology
Gurcharanjeet Kaur, MD is an assistant professor of neurology at CUIMC, in the Division of Child Neurology. Dr. Kaur is a graduate of Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi, India. She completed residency in both pediatric neurology and neuro-oncology at Stony Brook University Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, respectively. Dr. Kaur is a board-certified child neurologist and pediatric neuro-oncologist, with particular expertise in neurofibromatosis (NF) and NF-related tumors, cancer related neurotoxicity, and tumor targeted therapy for low grade gliomas.
For an appointment with Dr. Kaur, please call 646-426-3876.
Meet Dr. Patrick Lao
Neurological Sciences
Dr. Patrick Lao is an assistant professor of neurological sciences in neurology and in the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center. His research focuses on a multiple biomarker approach to Alzheimer’s disease (i.e., amyloid-β, hyperphosphorylated tau, cerebrovascular disease, and neurodegeneration), informed by contextual factors (i.e., genetic, biological, social, environmental) for underrepresented and underserved groups, will provide the most reliable understanding of the complex disease course. Dr. Lao uses neuroimaging and biofluid biomarkers to characterize within-group disease pathogenesis while considering relevant contextual factors, including the high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea in adults with Down syndrome, cerebrovascular health disparities in adults from minoritized racial/ethnic backgrounds, and stigma/discrimination in adults from minoritized sexual and gender backgrounds.
Meet Dr. Annie J. Lee
Neurological Sciences
Annie J. Lee, PhD is an assistant professor of neurological science (in Neurology, the Sergievsky Center, and the Taub Institute). Dr. Lee is a graduate of Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea. She received an MS and PhD in Biostatistics from Columbia, where she focused on developing statistical methods to understand neurodegenerative diseases using genomic and family history data. In research, Dr. Lee is focused on understanding neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease, using advanced statistical approaches and large-scale multi-omics data.
Meet Dr. Matthew Schelke
General Neurology
Matthew Schelke, MD is an assistant professor of neurology at CUIMC in the Division of General Neurology. Dr. Schelke is a graduate of Columbia University and Weill Cornell Medical College. He completed his Neurology residency at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC), where he was Chief Resident and received the New York-Presbyterian Physician of the Year Award in 2022. Dr. Schelke is a general neurologist who evaluates and treats patients with a broad spectrum of neurological conditions.
For an appointment with Dr. Schelke, please call 646-426-3876.
Meet Dr. Katee C. Yang
Neuropsychology
Dr. Katee Yang is an assistant professor of neuropsychology in the Clinical Neuropsychology Service. Her clinical activities include the evaluation and diagnosis of cognitive and emotional functioning across the lifespan. Her primary clinical activities focuses on differential diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders and movement disorders. In addition to aging and dementia, she has experience in adult epilepsy, ADHD, and candidacy of movement disorder patients for DBS and Moya Moya surgeries. She completed her doctoral training in clinical neuropsychology in both adults and children at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Afterwards, she completed an internship at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center - Fresno, and an advanced clinical neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship at NYU Langone Health, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. She is bilingual in English/Mandarin Chinese and received training in assessment of both adults and children.
For an appointment with Dr. Yang, please call 646-426-3876.