People
Kathleen Poston, MD, MS
Dr. Kathleen Poston is Associate Professor of Neurology and Neurosciences and, by courtesy, Neurosurgery. Dr. Poston received her Bachelor’s of Science in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and her Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. She also obtained her medical degree from Vanderbilt University and then completed her Neurology residency training at UCSF, where she was Chief Resident. She completed a fellowship in clinical Movement Disorders under the mentorship of Dr. Stanley Fahn at Columbia University and post-doctoral training in Functional Neuroimaging with Dr. David Eidelberg at the Feinstein Institute.
When not at the lab, Dr. Poston enjoys spending time with her family and traveling. She is an avid animal lover and, if not for her husband’s voice of reason, would adopt every stray who crosses her path. She currently shares her home with two loving cats. As a former competitive swimmer and synchronized swimmer, she is also an exercise enthusiast and is currently training for a triathlon.
Marian Shahid, MSc
Lab Manager
Marian received her Bachelor's of Science in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior from the University of California, Davis and her Master's of Science in Clinical Research Organization and Management from Drexel University. Before joining the Poston Lab, Marian worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator at UCSF in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology on various pharmacokinetic studies looking at nicotine metabolism and the effect on cognition in smokers, and the clinical pharmacology of electronic cigarettes. Marian is interested in learning more about cognitive decline and behavioral changes in individuals with Parkinson's disease. While not at work, Marian enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing volleyball and basketball, and watching her favorite Bay Area sports teams (go Warriors!).
If you are interested in participating in our research studies, please contact Marian at:
Phone: (650) 723-0060
Email: mshahid@stanford.edu
Matthew A.I. Ua Cruadhlaoich
Research Assistant
Matt began his neuroscience career in in vitro electrophysiology, investigating via multielectrode arrays, whole-cell patch-clamp recording, and computational modeling the medullary neurons that modulate respiration. After half a decade of work in this area, and stumbling along the way into an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and a master's in neuroscience from Yale, he finally saw the light and, subsequent to a brief foray into patent law, converted to the more sublime faith of functional neuroimaging. He spent a year in a VA cognitive neurophysiology and audiology lab before coming to Stanford, where he currently focuses on resting-state functional connectivity in Parkinson's patients and 7 T structural imaging of the midbrain, previously having investigated morphology in subjects genetically susceptible to Alzheimer's disease and connectomics questions calling for novel techniques in big-data analytics, all in anticipation of an eventual return to graduate school to carry out a neuroimaging-based dissertation. When not working, Matt is usually busy correcting misspellings and mispronunciations of his surname.
Jeehyun (Jee) Kim
Research Assistant
Jee recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Molecular & Cell Biology, Neurobiology. After having worked as a research assistant at UCSF, studying neuroanatomic changes that can cause altered personality and social behavior in dementia, she has developed a strong interest in learning about the cause and treatment for neurological disorders. In Dr. Kathleen Poston’s lab, she is studying non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease to contribute to the development of a more accurate diagnosis and effective treatment for movement disorders. In her spare time, she greatly enjoys being in the outdoors, traveling, watching (and re-watching) movies, playing the flute, and exploring new cafes.
Nessa Kim
Research Assistant
Nessa graduated from UC Berkeley, where she studied Molecular & Cell Biology with a concentration in Neurobiology. From then, she dove into the research and development of a non-invasive diagnostic device for lung cancer, and also worked on a project on emotion recognition using deep neural networks. Inspired by the biological model for the AI platforms involved in her past research, she returns her focus on the human brain in the scope of neurological disease, still learning how to develop the accuracy of its diagnosis and feasibility of its treatments. At the Poston lab, she is currently studying resting-state imaging data to understand the network dynamics unique to Parkinson’s disease and its non-motor symptoms, and is also involved in testing episodic memory deficit and other behavioral changes in patients with Parkinson’s. But, of course, only after coffee.
Colin McDaniel
Research Assistant
Colin graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in Cognitive Science and Specialization in Computing. While at UCLA, he worked as a research assistant in behavioral neuroscience and cognitive psychology laboratories. Since graduating, he has contributed to research regarding the genetic and neurobiological factors related to impulsivity and drug addiction, and further developed his computer programming skills. In addition, Colin studied jazz performance at the Brubeck Institute Fellowship Program at University of the Pacific and has performed internationally. He plans on attending graduate school in a field related to cognitive neuroscience. In his free time, Colin enjoys composing, watching movies, and listening to podcasts.
ADRC/Udall Coordinators
Meagan Adams
Clinical Research Coordinator
Meagan graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Family Studies and Human Development. While at the UofA, she was a research assistant for a Human Memory and an Aging and Cognition lab where she worked with healthy younger and older adults, as well as those with traumatic brain injuries. Meagan was also an intern at the Alzheimer’s Association where she facilitated in caregiver support groups and closely worked with families who were affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Her research interests consist of normal and abnormal aging, and finding ways to improve cognitive impairment in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases. She hopes to attain additional research experience before applying to a PhD program in the field of cognitive neuroscience.
T’Lesa Meadowcroft
Clinical Research Coordinator
T’Lesa Meadowcroft earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in neuroscience from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. She worked as a research assistant in psychology and, after graduation in 2010, as a neuropsychometrist at the University of Utah Center for Alzheimer’s Care, Imaging and Research. In 2015, she became a Certified Specialist in Psychometry and moved to Stanford Health Care as a clinical psychometrist, before joining us at the ADRC and Pacific Udall Center.
Veronica Ramirez
Clinical Research Coordinator
Veronica Ramirez is a research assistant for the Clinical Core of the Stanford ADRC. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of New Orleans. As an undergraduate at the University of New Orleans, she worked as a lab assistant in the department of psychology. After receiving her bachelor’s, she worked as a psychometrist and Clinical Research Coordinator at a private neuropsychology practice in New Orleans. Much of her work has involved research in behavioral neurology and forensic neuropsychology.
Christian La
Postdoctoral Scholar
Christian received his Bachelor’s Degree at the University of California, Berkeley, where he developed his initial interest in functional brain imaging at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute with the D’Esposito Lab. He later attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his graduate studies and obtained his Doctorate Degree in the Neurosciences focusing on frequency analysis of the intrinsic low-frequency oscillation of the resting-state in populations of aging and ischemic stroke using rs-fMRI.
Currently, Christian is interested in the characterization of cortical system disruption in Parkinson’s disease population, in terms of functional network interactions and dynamics of the network connectivity.
On the personal side, Christian is a native of the southern French city of Marseille (home of the Pastis and the Bouillabaisse). Christian has also lived in three different continents and is looking forward to more traveling and exploring, adding to his personal diversity.
Patricia Linortner
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Patricia Linortner is a trained neuroscientist with a PhD in Neuroscience / Brain Ageing (Medical University of Graz) and a Master’s Degree in Psychology (Graz University and University of Salzburg). In her PhD research, she used MRI/fMRI to study the motor- and cognitive disturbances that can be seen in people with pronounced age-related cerebral white matter hyperintensities. During her research stay at the Centre for FMRIB (University of Oxford), she here could intensify her analytical skills and competencies.
Following up her interest in multimodal imaging approaches and neuroplasticity of the brain, Patricia now uses in vivo amyloid imaging with [11C]-PIB to study cognitive and non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s Disease.
When not in the lab, Patricia enjoys hiking the outdoors and (learning to) surfing the pacific waves. As a former (mountain) bike guide, she is particularly excited by the rich nature and biking paths the Bay Area has to offer.
Sephira Ryman, PhD, MS
Udall Clinical Research Fellow
Dr. Sephira Ryman studied Neuroscience and Psychology as an undergraduate at Wellesley College. She continued to pursue these interests and obtained her Masters of Science and Doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology, specializing in Neuropsychology at the University of New Mexico. She completed her clinical internship in Neuropsychology at the University of California, Los Angeles and joined the Poston lab as the Pacific Udall Center Clinical Research Fellow in July 2018.
Sephira uses multimodal neuroimaging techniques (e.g. MRI/fMRI, EEG, DWI) to understand the dynamic mechanisms of higher order cognitive functioning in both health and disease. She aims to characterize how neuronal functioning is altered in Movement Disorders and dementia with the ultimate goal of identifying meaningful biomarkers to track disease progression and developing interventions that improve cognitive functioning. Outside of the lab, she enjoys backpacking, mountain biking, and hiking.
Maria Coburn
Research Coordinator (AAV2-Neuturin)
Emma Adair
Clinical Research Manager
Emma co-manages (with Maria Coburn) the Neurology & Neurosurgery Clinical Trial Team consisting of 20 coordinators conducting 70+ clinical trials. Emma graduated from Carnegie Mellon and previously coordinated at the Stanford Stroke Center and at the Stanford Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory. Emma is delighted to be the primary study coordinator for our Parkinson’s clinical trials and looks forward to bringing cutting edge therapies to our patients. On the personal side, Emma loves her 2 big dogs plus all things dog related.