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MAC  ADRC Join the Team |
Staff
Nurses & Counselors
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Cynthia Barton received her basic nursing education at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, NH. She then went on to get her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at UCSF and her Master of Science in Nursing from Duke University. She is certified as a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Her career has included clinical and management positions in the acute setting and primary care management in the long-term care setting. Nurse Barton is involved in evaluating patients at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center's Memory Disorders Clinic and coordinating a quality improvement project in the SFVA Nursing Home to improve the diagnosis and management of patients with dementia. She speaks in the community on the topics of cognition in the elderly, cognitive assessment and non-pharmacological management of behavior problems in dementia.
Natasha received her Masters in Social Work from San Francisco State University in 1996 and became licensed as a Clinical Social Worker in 2003. Natasha has extensive experience working in community agencies addressing the needs of the elderly. Prior to joining the MAC team, she worked first as a family consultant and then as the clinical supervisor at Family Caregiver Alliance, a center dedicated to providing information and support services to family members caring for someone with a dementia related disease. Natasha joined the Memory and Aging Center in 2007 as a part time social worker. She primarily works with families during the initial diagnostic visits and subsequently assists families in identifying comprehensive care plans. She is especially interested in connecting families with resources in their communities, as well as working with family caregivers to provide information on how best to manage their loved ones' challenging behavioral symptoms. In addition, Natasha is interested in providing support and education to families so as to maximize their efforts and maintain their health while providing care.
Nurse Gearhart received her undergraduate degree in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. She began her nursing career at Johns Hopkins Hospital where she worked in acute care. Nurse Gearhart continued working in general medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center where she was nurse manager. She received her Master's in Nursing Administration at UCSF and is certified as a Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist by the American Nurses Association Credentialing Center. Nurse Gearhart is a Clinical Nurse Specialist and the Administrative Nurse for the Memory and Aging Center. She is also Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Physiology in the School of Nursing. Nurse Gearhart works with families during the comprehensive diagnostic visits and cares for patients in the follow-up clinic. Nurse Gearhart focuses on optimizing the functional status of each patient and maintaining the quality of life for both the patient and caregivers. In addition to her clinical work, Nurse Gearhart has coordinated the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) prevention drug trial and focuses her research interests on the study of people at risk for dementia and prevention of decline. She is very interested in investigating the impact of caregiving on families, particularly families involved in the care of frontotemporal dementia patients.
Rachel Ho joined the Memory and Aging Center as a Research Nurse Practitioner and focuses on assessing and evaluating patients for the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), which supports the research of new therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's Disease. She is also involved in the Healthy Aging Research Study, which helps us to understand the process of healthy aging and to detect the early signs of dementia. Rachel actively participates in the ADRC Chinese Outreach Program, seeing patients in various Chinese Clinical settings in San Francisco. She is also in collaboration on a study to determine whether patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are impaired in their decision making abilities. Before joining the Memory and Aging Center, she worked as a Nurse Practitioner in the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Department at UCSF, providing care for her patients during their stem cell transplant. She has also worked as a Nurse Practitioner in the Psychiatry Unit at San Mateo Medical Center, managing various acute and chronic illnesses for psychiatric patients. As a Registered Nurse, Rachel has worked at Children's Hospital in Oakland in the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Department. Rachel Ho completed her Bachelor of Science in Clinical Science at San Francisco State University and Masters of Science in Nursing at the University of San Francisco. She became credentialed as a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adult Medicine/Surgery. She is also board certified with the American Nurses Credentialing Center and certified as a Public Health Nurse. During her free time, she enjoys dancing Argentine Tango, creating pastel art and playing classical music on the piano.
Robin received her Bachelor’s degree in nursing from UCLA and a Master’s degree in gerontological nursing from UCSF. Robin’s career has involved work in medical surgical nursing, psychiatric nursing and geriatric nursing. She has held research positions at both the UC Davis and UCSF state funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers of California (ARCC). Her work at the ARCCs included expert clinical care as a Clinical Nurse Specialist and as a Clinical Trials Coordinator for patients and families participating in dementia research. Most recently, Robin worked in a quality assurance program at Northern California Kaiser Permanente managing data and tracking patients with breast cancer. Robin returned to the Memory and Aging Center in May 2006 and since that time has been the primary nurse for the NIH funded Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC) program, interviewing caregivers and study partners about participants’ everyday functioning, mood and behavior. She also manages the NIH-funded program project grant entitled Frontotemporal Dementia: Genes, Imaging and Emotions and interviews caregivers participating in that study as well. Additionally, Robin facilitates the caregiver support group for families and friends of patients with frontotemporal dementia. Robin is interested in helping patients with neurodegenerative disease and their caregivers to learn coping mechanisms that will improve their overall well being. She is also interested in the impact of specific symptoms of dementia, such as apathy, on function and overall health.
Mary Koestler joined the Memory and Aging Center’s Clinical Trials Unit as project administrator and trials nurse, July 2007. Dr. Koestler completed a Master’s Degree in Nursing with an emphasis in Clinical Research Management at UCSF followed by a Ph.D. She currently manages industry-sponsored FDA Phase I-III Alzheimer’s disease trials. Dr. Koestler is credentialed by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP).
Amy Kuo completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Michigan. After graduation, she worked as a clinical nurse at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center before accepting a position at UCSF’s Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (IND). While working at IND, Amy coordinated a research study on development of a prion-detection test; this was a collaborative study between Dr. Prusiner’s lab and the Memory and Aging Center. Ms. Kuo now works as Clinical Nurse Coordinator at the Memory and Aging Center and continues to work with families battling CJD and other rapidly progressive dementias. She organizes and oversees the evaluation of these patients during their research visits, conducts genetic counseling, and works with families remotely to help manage their individual disease courses.
Nurse Merrilees received her Master’s Degree in Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco and is certified by the American Nurses Association in Gerontological Nursing. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UCSF School of Nursing and a Clinical Nurse Specialist at the Memory and Aging Center. Ms. Merrilees is part of a multidisciplinary team focused on the evaluation and management of people with cognitive and behavioral symptoms. She is one of the primary nurses for the NIH-funded program project grant entitled Frontotemporal Dementia: Genes, Emotions and Imaging. Her work at the Memory and Aging Center focuses on behavioral symptoms in dementia and support and education for family caregivers. She directs a research project exploring the dementia caregiver experience. She was awarded a John A. Hartford pre-doctoral scholarship and is currently pursuing doctoral education at the UCSF School of Nursing with a focus on rest-activity disruption in dementia.
Jennifer Ogar received her Masters of Science degree in Communicative Disorders from San Francisco State University in 2000. She has been consulting with the MAC clinic since 2001, evaluating patients with progressive speech and language impairments. Ms. Ogar also participates in ongoing research in the area of aphasia and related disorders. Ms. Ogar is the Acting Chief of the Speech Pathology Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Martinez, California, where she sees patients with a range of speech, language and swallowing disorders.
Tricia received her Bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in genetics from Cornell University, followed by a Master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins University/National Human Genome Research Institute Genetic Counseling Training Program in 2005. Tricia is a board certified genetic counselor. Tricia joined the Memory and Aging Center in August 2008 and is delighted to be part of such a knowledgeable and dynamic team. Her responsibilities include providing genetic counseling to individuals and families affected with or at-risk for degenerative brain diseases and working in conjunction with the team to better understand the underlying genetic factors.
Nurse Wyss-Coray graduated from Nursing College in Chur, Switzerland in 1987. She worked six years as a clinical nurse and charge nurse in a University hospital in Switzerland. In 1993, Nurse Wyss-Coray moved to the US with her family and in 1996, she joined the Intensive Care Unit at UCSF. In 1999, she came to the Memory and Aging Center. Nurse Wyss-Coray is a Clinical Nurse at the Memory and Aging Center. At the MAC clinic, she meets with patients and families on the appointment day, evaluates caregiver issues, and performs functional, behavioral and memory assessments. Nurse Wyss-Coray organizes and oversees follow-up appointments and follows patients and families through the course of enrollment at the Memory and Aging Center.
Ms. Zanko received her Masters Degree in genetic counseling from the University of California, Berkeley. She has a Bachelor's Degree from Boston University in Education and Social Sciences and she majored in cell and molecular biology at San Francisco State University. Andrea Zanko has been a Genetic Counselor at UCSF in the pediatric and adult genetics clinic for over 20 years, working with families suspected or known to be affected by or at risk for genetic disorders. She created the UCSF Huntington’s Disease Counseling & Testing Clinic in 1990 and continues to counsel individuals and families regarding Huntington’s Disease (HD) and the complexities of predictive DNA analysis. Ms. Zanko coordinates the HD clinic in association with the multidisciplinary team at the USCF Memory and Aging Center. She facilitates a monthly HD support group and participates in HD clinical research designed to ascertain and interpret the myriad expressions of Huntington’s Disease. |
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