Marissa Urbano graduated from Stanford University in 2005 with a bachelor of arts degree in Human Biology. While at Stanford, Marissa aided studies on both Fragile X syndrome and deep brain stimulation in idiopathic Parkinson's disease at the Stanford Medical Center. Upon graduating, she volunteered with AmeriCorps to start and manage a mentoring program for at-risk youth, as well as provided emergency medical response as an Emergency Medical Technician in Fresno County.

Marissa joined the Memory and Aging Center in 2009. She coordinates both the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and the Neuroimaging in Frontotemporal Dementia study. Both longitudinal studies are aimed at determining which imaging modalities and biomarkers help predict the onset and monitor the progression of neurodegenerative disease.

When she is not furthering her exploration of the human mind, Marissa enjoys hiking and backpacking in the California wilderness.