People

Dr. A. Lisette Isenberg is a Research Scientist. Dr. Isenberg holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Biola University, and a Ph.D in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of California, Irvine. She completed her postdoctoral work in neurodegenerative diseases at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Isenberg’s research focuses on identifying cognitive and biological markers contributing to decline in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, and developing lifestyle interventions to keep these changes at bay. Her current research focuses on exercise and cognitive activity as an intervention for early memory changes in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Of particular interest are mechanisms that contribute to processing deficits associated with early cognitive changes, integrating biomarkers from neuroimaging, genetics and biofluids, with the ultimate goal of improving approaches for early detection and intervention. Her work leverages ultra high-field MRI data and sophisticated bioinformatic and statistical approaches to integrate multiple data sources in efforts to identify targets for clinical intervention.

Teresa Monreal completed her B.A. in Psychology at UCLA with a minor in English, and her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at UC San Diego, where she studied the role of impulsivity in alcohol abuse and eating disorders. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the UC San Diego Center for Healthy Eating and Activity Research. Teresa joined the Pa lab in August 2017 and is currently the Project Manager for the LEARNit study.

Ashwin Sakare completed his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2009, and graduated from USC in 2017 with a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering. Ashwin is a Ph.D. student in the Biomedical Engineering program at USC. He is currently developing an exercise-based virtual reality video game that assesses spatial navigation skills in older adults at risk for AD. He also uses phase-contrast MRI to study cerebral blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow and evaluate its relationship with physical activity and amyloid burden in older adults at risk for AD.

Joey Contreras received her PhD in medical neuroscience from Indiana University in 2017. Her research focuses on using connectomics and neuroimaging data to investigate the relationship between functional connectivity, structural connectivity and important biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In particular, her work aims to help identify some of the earliest stages of neurodegeneration and explore how various treatments can affect functional and structural connections in the brain. Her recent project explores the relationship between elevated levels of TNF-alpha, an inflammatory CSF marker, and abberant functional connectivity in regions important for memory and cognition within APOE4 carriers.

Dan received his Ph.D. in medical neuroscience in 2014 from the Indiana University School of Medicine in the lab of Dr. Karmen Yoder, where he used positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to study aberrations in the dopamine system in different neuropathologies, including addiction and chronic pain. Dan completed a postdoctoral position with Dr. Marco Loggia at the MGH/Martinos Center in Boston, where he studied neuroimmune processes in chronic pain disorders, using combined PET/MR imaging. In July 2018, Dan joined Dr. Pa’s lab as a Postdoctoral Scholar/Research Associate. Dan uses PET to investigate protein misfolding that occurs throughout the course of Alzheimer’s Disease. Dan is interested in exploring how neuroimmune mechanisms may contribute to amyloid and tau protein accumulation in Alzheimer’s, as well as developing methods to improve the accuracy of PET quantification for these protein targets.

Ivan Tsang is a recent graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Interactive Media & Games Design. He is currently an Interactive & Game Designer working on the NeuroRider Virtual Reality project.

Joy Stradford attended Howard University in Washington, DC where she achieved a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Biology. Joy received her M.S. in Neuroimaging and Informatics from USC in 2018. She is interested in examining the interconnection between psychology, neuroscience, and neuroimaging, and ultimately aspires to become a clinical neuropsychologist. Joy is a currently a Project Assistant working on the LEARNit Study, the Gender Imaging Genetics (GIG) Project, and the Virtual Reality Project.

Vahan Aslanyan completed his B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics at UC Berkeley in May of 2018. His current research focus is Causal Mediation Analysis and Survival Analysis. He is also interested in Pattern Recognition, Image Processing, and Causal Interference. Vahan is a Project Assistant working on the MitoWAX project and LEARNit study.