Principal Investigator: Kamalini Ranasinghe
Dr. Kamalini Ranasinghe is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Memory and Aging Center. Her research focuses on understanding the neuronal and neural network mechanisms that support human cognition and how these systems become disrupted in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in the context of pathological protein accumulation. Her program integrates electrophysiological approaches, including electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), with molecular biomarkers and neuroimaging methods to investigate dysfunctional neural circuits and their relationship with proteinopathies. As a physician-neuroscientist, Dr. Ranasinghe studies brain–behavior relationships in neurodegenerative disorders, with the goal of uncovering disease mechanisms and identifying biomarkers and therapeutic targets to improve diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative dementias. Her research is supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, and has been featured in numerous influential scientific publications.
Postdoctoral Researcher: Pooja Prabhu
Pooja Prabhu, PhD, is a postdoctoral scholar at the Biomagnetic Imaging Lab and Fein Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she investigates neural circuit dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. Her research focuses on understanding how neurodegenerative diseases alter brain rhythms, neural synchrony, and communication across brain networks, and how these changes relate to cognitive decline and underlying pathology. Her research integrates magnetoencephalography (MEG), electrophysiological analysis, and computational modeling to characterize circuit-level dysfunction and identify disease progression. She is particularly interested in understanding how neural oscillations and phase-amplitude coupling reflect early changes in brain function and their relationship to Alzheimer’s disease proteinopathies.
Postdoctoral Researcher: Jennifer Senta
Dr. Jennifer Senta completed her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley in 2024, where she used computational models of decision-making and reinforcement learning to investigate the influences of psychopathology on cognitive processes. Prior to her graduate work, Jennifer earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and worked as a consulting actuary, obtaining Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries. Her current research leverages computational approaches to investigate neurophysiological changes in aging and dementia.
Clinical Research Coordinator: Faatimah Syed
Faatimah Syed is a clinical research coordinator with a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Master’s degree in Biomedical Imaging from the University of California San Francisco. She works on coordinating neuroimaging studies for Dr. Kamalini Ranasinghe and Dr. Kate Rankin, alongside other studies looking at Alzheimer’s disease and socioemotional research.