People

Aimee Kao, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator

Dr. Kao is a Professor in the Department of Neurology at UCSF.  She studied Neuroscience at Brown University prior to receiving her MD and PhD degrees from the University of Iowa.  There, she trained in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Pessin, studying the cellular and molecular biology of insulin receptor signaling and GLUT4 trafficking.  She completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and then a Neurology residency at the University of California, San Francisco where she was Chief Resident.  She completed a one-year fellowship in Behavioral Neurology with Dr. Bruce Miller in the Dept. of Neurology and a post-doctoral research fellowship with Dr. Cynthia Kenyon in the Dept. of Biochemistry prior to starting her own group at UCSF.


Molly Hodul, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Molly studied Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She then completed her PhD with Professor Peter Juo at Tufts University, where she investigated the regulation of the AMPA-type glutamate receptor by its deubiquitinating enzyme USP-46 in C. elegans. She identified two novel mechanisms by which USP-46 is stabilized and activated by two WD40-repeat proteins, WDR-48 and WDR-20, to promote AMPAR abundance and recycling to the neuronal surface. In the Kao lab, Molly will continue her research in protein homeostasis and degradation in C. elegans. Her project focuses on the interaction between progranulin and prosaposin and their role in lysosomal function and neurodegeneration.


Caroline Ackley, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Caroline earned her BSc in Biopsychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a research assistant in Benjamin Reese's lab where she investigated genetic regulation of AII amacrine cell development in the retina. Caroline earned her PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology after training with Joel Rothman at UCSB. For her dissertation, she characterized gravitaxis behavior in C. elegans and uncovered cellular and molecular requirements for this behavior. During her postdoc, she will be studying APP degradation in the lysosome and its relationship to Tau in the aging brain. Caroline also enjoys crafting, aerial dance, and playing with her cats.


Courtney Lane-Donovan, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor

Courtney studied biological engineering and biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She then completed her MD/PhD at UT Southwestern. She trained with Dr. Joachim Herz studying ApoE receptor signaling in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. She identified a role for Reelin, a protein that is vital for brain development, in protecting older rodents against amyloid beta, one of the primary pathology proteins that accumulates in Alzheimer's disease. As a fourth-year neurology resident at the University of California, San Francisco, and then continuing as an R25 postdoctoral researcher, Courtney will be studying lysosomal health and function in models of aging.


Paul Sampognaro, MD, Assistant Professor

Paul majored in Neurobiology as an undergrad at Georgetown University. There, he worked as a research assistant in the laboratory of Maria Donoghue, studying the molecular underpinnings of Eph-ephrin signaling and its role in cortical neuronal development . After college, he matriculated to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he earned his M.D. and worked part time in Charlotte Sumner’s laboratory, quantifying the degree of SMN1 insufficiency in humans with spinal muscular atrophy. As a fourth year neurology resident at UCSF, Paul joined the Kao Lab for his Flexible Residency. Here, he has focused on TDP-43 mutations and their potential impact on lysosomal function in ALS motor neurons.


Andrea Argouarch, Specialist

Andrea graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering and a specialization in stem cell research.   


Mackenzie Welch, PhD Graduate Student

Mackenzie studied Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. After graduating, he worked in the biotech industry focused primarily on  biomarker assay development for Parkinson's disease. As a graduate student at UCSF, he is interested in investigating how lysosomal pH is altered in neurodegenerative disease. 


Camila Benitez, PhD Graduate Student

Camila studied molecular and cell biology with an emphasis in neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. She worked in the lab of Dr. Andrew Dillin, where she researched the integrity of the actin cytoskeleton as a function of age in C. elegans and the effect of TRPV1 knockout on VCP disease models. She is currently in the UCSF Tetrad Program and plans to complete her PhD researching how protein homeostasis is controlled in neurodegenerative disease. When she is not in lab, she enjoys cooking, making espresso, pottery, comedy, and taking care of her plants.


Virginia Garda, PhD Graduate Student

Virginia studied chemical biology at UC Berkeley. She worked in the labs of Ron Zuckermann and Caroline Ajo-Franklin at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, where she studied biologically inspired nanomaterials. Afterwards, she worked for two years at a biotech company focused on finding treatments for Parkinson's Disease. She is currently a CCB graduate student at UCSF and is interested in using unbiased methods and chemical biology tools to study lysosomal defects in neurodegenerative diseases. Outside of the lab, Virginia enjoys reading, cooking, and road cycling.


Edwina Mambou, Junior Specialist

 

Edwina studied Neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside and began research as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Emma Wilson’s lab, where she studied the immune response of neurons following a chronic infection of Toxoplasma gondii infection. After graduating, she worked as a teaching and research assistant at Pomona College, where she assisted in investigating the role of muscarinic and nicotinic receptors in the developing C. elegans male gonad. Her previous research experience let her to the Kao lab, where she is part of the Post-baccalaurete Research Opportunity to Promote Equity in Learning (PROPEL) Program. Her project focuses on the role of progranulin on lysosomal pH in aging and neurodegeneration in C. elegans.


Ping Huang, Assistant Specialist

 

Ping received her M.S. in Neuroscience from National Yang-Ming University, where she studied labelling efficiency of neuronal tracers in mouse brain circuits. She then joined a biotech company to develop vaccines against neurodegenerative diseases. Before joining Kao lab, Ping worked at Steven Altschuler and Lani Wu's lab at UCSF, where she helped with the development of high-content imaging platform in separating ALS subtypes. Ping is currently working on the CZI project and helping with animal works.


Zoe Liau, Staff Research Associate

 

Zoe majored in Human Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she also worked as a research assistant in the Castel Lab studying memory and emotion. Outside of lab, she enjoys hiking, cafe hopping, and working through the daily crossword with friends.


Joanne De Torres, Lab Assistant 

Joanne graduated from San Francisco State University wth a B.S. degree in Microbiology, pursuing Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS).


Laura Wise, Administrative Officer 

Laura Wise was born and raised in San Francisco. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Education from San Francisco State University. Laura always had a passion for promoting health education in underserved communities and serving as an advocate for access to better healthcare and medical treatment resources for people of color. She has also had a passion in supporting troubled youth in navigating mental and physical health challenges. Laura implemented her knowledge in health education to help troubled youth focus educate and advocate for themselves in regard to self-care and personal health decision making. Laura began her career at the University of California, San Francisco in 2007 and joined the Memory and Aging Center in 2020. In her current role, Laura uses her extensive administrative experience to support the Memory and Aging Center’s mission of providing the highest quality of care for individuals with cognitive problems, conducting research on causes and cures for degenerative brain diseases, and to educate health professionals, patients, and their families. Laura serves as a member of the Memory and Aging Center’s Black Leadership Advisory Council (BLAC). As a native of San Francisco, Laura brings historical knowledge of the changing city landscape and its impact on communities of color. She hopes to bring awareness of the healthcare challenges that impact communities of color in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond and promote positive change. In Laura’s spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and participating in community engagement activities.


Former Lab Members

Robin Eisenhut (2008) - Medical Student at Stanford
Ayumi Nakamura (2010) - Medical Resident at Duke
David Cox (2011) - Medical Resident at Stanford
Meredith Judy (2013) - Research Associate at UC Berkeley
Helen McCurdy (2013) - Senior Program Manager at 23andMe
Beibei Jing (2014) - Registered Nurse
Nikki Salazar (2015) - Educator at Lafayette Academy
Lauréanne Putallaz (2015) - Project Manager at Biopsomic
Kien-Thiet Nguyen (2016) - Law Clerk at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Jessica Felix (2017) - PhD Candidate at Baylor College
Loan Doan (2017) - Laboratory Assistant at UCSF
​Imani Robinson (2018) - Clinical Research Coordinator at UCSF
​Glendalyn Boothe (2018) - Graduate of Louisiana Scholars' College
Anand Patwardhan (2018) - Senior Scientist at Pfizer
Victoria Butler (2019) - Senior Manager, Medical Writing at Pfizer
Swetha Mohan (2019) - In Vitro Biology Consultant in Engine Biosciences
Sushmitha Gururaj (2019) - Scientific Communications Specialist at Inscopix, Inc.
​Kirsten Young (2019) - Recent graduate from UC Berkeley 
Nina Schultz (2021) - Postdoc at Lund University
Carolina Alquezar Burillo (2021) - PI at the University Hospital October 12
Marcus Chin (2021) - Scientist at Denali Therapeutics
Shruti Arya (2022) - Scientist at Acelot, Inc.
Austin Wang (2023)