Get to know Dr. Grinberg's research team and learn more about their research interests, multidisciplinary backgrounds and passions beyond the lab.
Lea Grinberg, M.D., Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Grinberg is a neuropathologist and neuroscientist whose research focuses on the early mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. She leads the Neurodegeneration and Sleep Pathology Lab at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, which studies early subcortical changes, sleep dysfunction and biomarker validation across diverse populations. Her research team investigates selective neuronal vulnerability, sleep-wake regulation and subcortical pathology using advanced histology, neuroimaging and multi-omics approaches.
Dr. Grinberg is passionate about improving diagnostic accuracy and contributes to translational research that informs global health strategies. Before joining Mayo Clinic, she held academic and research appointments at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she advanced work in neuropathology and neurodegeneration and contributed to international collaborations in brain disease research and education. She is the recipient of an NIH K24 award, supporting her commitment to mentoring early-career investigators and fostering interdisciplinary research in neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Grinberg is internationally recognized for her efforts to refine diagnostic criteria and improve biomarker validation.
Jasmine R. Anderson, M.S.
Senior Research Technologist
Jasmine supports the Neurodegeneration and Sleep Pathology Lab's neuropathology research by overseeing day-to-day laboratory operations, managing regulatory compliance and coordinating multidisciplinary projects that advance understanding of neurodegenerative disease. She is especially interested in optimizing laboratory workflows to improve research efficiency, strengthen data integrity and build sustainable systems that foster collaboration across teams. Beyond making these technical contributions, she is passionate about mentoring emerging scientists and promoting a range of perspectives in scientific research.
Jasmine brings extensive experience in microbiology, molecular biology and laboratory management to the Grinberg Lab. She earned her Master of Science in biology from the University of North Florida, where her thesis research investigated Klebsiella pneumoniae antibiotic resistance mechanisms and contributed to a published genome study. She went on to lead projects in genomic sequencing, biodetection, and quality assurance within public health and federal laboratory programs, where she frequently served in leadership roles overseeing staff training, laboratory transitions and quality audits. Her background combines rigorous bench science with systems-level oversight, giving her a unique perspective on how research environments can be structured for both innovation and reproducibility.
Outside the lab, Jasmine enjoys exploring creative approaches to science communication, attending live music events and visiting theme parks where she can combine her love of adventure with her curiosity about how people experience stories and spaces.
Jackie Barua, M.B.B.S., Ph.D.
Research Fellow
In the Grinberg Lab, Dr. Barua is extending his background in quantitative neuroanatomy and astroglial biology to the study of human neurodegenerative disease, with a focus on tau pathology and the selective vulnerability of brainstem and limbic circuits.
Jackie was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh. He earned a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from Cumilla Medical College at the University of Chittagong in 2014 and completed a one-year clinical internship at Chittagong Medical College Hospital. He then joined the Neuroscience and Neurobiology Laboratory of Karen Müller Smith, Ph.D., at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he earned a Master of Science in biology with a concentration in neurobiology and neurosciences en route to a doctoral degree.
Jackie's dissertation research focused on the molecular, cellular and neurobiological mechanisms underlying self-injurious behavior, with an emphasis on amygdala-related circuits, astroglial reactivity, transcriptomic alterations and dopamine-associated pathways. He has extensive hands-on experience with primate and murine models, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, unbiased stereology, Western blotting, RT PCR-qRT PCR, RNA seq-guided target validation, transcriptomic pathway analysis, and behavioral neuroscience.
Cice Chen
Doctoral Student
Cice is a student in the Neuroscience track of the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Program. In Dr. Grinberg's lab, she studies selective vulnerability of orexin neurons. She graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, biochemistry and neurobiology. While there, she worked on TDP-43 spreading patterns in mouse models under the mentorship of Silvia Porta, Ph.D., and Virginia Lee, Ph.D.
In her free time, Cice likes to travel and explore good restaurants with friends.
Jonathan Chen
Associate Data Science Analyst
Jonathan aims to provide more-accurate and more-efficient clinical diagnoses for patients. To accomplish this, he combines computer vision methods and histopathology in postmortem brain tissue to study diagnostic tools, such as tau PET and QSM-MRI, for various dementias. He also collaborates with colleagues to modernize human brain tissue storage at Mayo Clinic through pathology digitalization and AI-assisted classification, which accelerates scientific discovery in dementia mechanism and treatment. He plans to attend medical school to establish a career in scientific research and medicine with a focus on neurology.
Jonathan graduated from University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in cellular and molecular biology. He began his research career in Dr. Grinberg's lab at UCSF, focusing on using AI in neuroimaging and digital pathology for dementia research under the mentorship of Dr. Grinberg and Dr. Maryana Allegro. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys watching movies and shows, playing the drums, drinking coffee, and running.
Kira Dewi
Senior Research Technologist
Kira is certified as a histotechnologist (HTL and QIHC-ASCP) and licensed as a clinical laboratory technologist in the state of Florida. Her work has focused on advanced histology, immunohistochemistry and digital pathology, with contributions to research and clinical trials involving minimal residual disease. Her career goal is to continue advancing histopathology — particularly in neurodegenerative disease — through translational research and technology-driven solutions.
Kira graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Science and has over a decade of experience working as a histotechnologist in both clinical and research settings. When she's not working, she enjoys going to the beach, hiking and doing landscape photography.
Ana Moreno Arnas
Special Project Associate II
Ana has always been drawn to research in neurodegenerative diseases and has shaped her training to deepen her understanding of the field. Her research experience spans several laboratories studying Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies, as well as spinal muscular atrophy.
After developing expertise with two vastly different animal models, Caenorhabditis elegans and mice, Ana is expanding her skills in Dr. Grinberg's lab by learning to work with human brain tissue, which requires distinct strategies and approaches. In this role, she is gaining hands-on experience with both wet and dry lab techniques.
Ana earned her Master of Science in advanced therapies in biomedicine and her Bachelor of Science in biomedicine, along with an expert title in entrepreneurship and innovation, from Universidad Francisco de Vitoria in Madrid, Spain. Beyond contributing to work in the lab, she loves traveling and fitness. She channels her creativity through flamenco and classical Spanish dance, painting, and attending live concerts whenever she can.
Felipe L. Pereira, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
Senior Data Science Analyst
Dr. Pereira is a bioinformatician and computer scientist with a strong background in computational biology, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure. He advances the understanding of neurodegenerative disorders by developing and deploying AI-driven tools to analyze multimodal data across diverse omics and imaging modalities — including MRI, immunohistochemistry, genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics. He collaborates closely with wet lab scientists and contributes to multiple publications and translational projects.
Dr. Pereira also leads infrastructure design for the lab's brain bank modernization project, building scalable cloud-based pipelines and machine learning solutions to enhance data accessibility and institutional knowledge across Mayo Clinic's extensive brain tissue archives.
Dr. Pereira earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of the Valley of Itajaí, followed by master's and doctoral degrees in bioinformatics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, both in Brazil. During his postdoctoral studies, he served as the lead bioinformatician for Brazil's National Reference Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Diseases and later held a faculty position at the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina. Before coming to Mayo Clinic, he contributed to Alzheimer's disease research at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, focusing on the selective vulnerability of neuronal cells in Alzheimer's disease progression. His career reflects a deep commitment to applying data science to complex biological questions.
Samantha D. Preffer
Education Intern
Samantha is an intern in the Grinberg Lab at Mayo Clinic through the Undergraduate Biomedical Research Internship (U-BRI) program. Through this internship, she is expanding her knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer's disease. She is gaining hands-on research skills and a deeper understanding of how laboratory work informs clinical advances.
Samantha earned a bachelor's degree in biomedical sciences from the University of North Florida. Looking ahead, she plans to attend medical school and pursue a career in internal medicine, where she hopes to combine her research background with patient care. She is passionate about bridging science and medicine to improve health outcomes. In her free time, she enjoys reading, weightlifting and going to the beach.
Ahnaf A. Rahman
Special Project Associate II
Ahnaf supports the brain bank modernization initiative in Dr. Grinberg's lab by consolidating data and improving accessibility for scientific research. His goals with this work include deepening his expertise in neuropathology and expanding his application of computational methods in the context of neurodegeneration research.
Ahnaf is passionate about software development, machine learning and applying computational methods to advance scientific research.
Ahnaf earned his Bachelor of Science in biology from Florida Atlantic University. His thesis work centered on developing pharmacogenomic software to integrate patients' genetic variants into drug review workflows. Ahnaf earned his Master of Science in bioinformatics from Nova Southeastern University in 2025. His research spanned transcriptomic and metagenomic approaches with a focus on liver disease and the gut microbiome.
Outside the lab, Ahnaf enjoys singing and weightlifting.
Marina M. Reinhardt
Research Trainee
Marina is a medical student at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil. She is taking a dedicated research year to work in Dr. Grinberg's lab as a research trainee. She is focused on a project initiated at USP that explores the feasibility of minimally invasive autopsy protocols for brain tissue procurement. Her work investigates whether these methods can improve molecular integrity in brain biorepositories, potentially advancing neuropathological studies in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.
During her tenure at Mayo Clinic, Marina seeks to collaborate on laboratory efforts while expanding her expertise in advanced molecular techniques, spatial proteomics and histological validation to investigate selective neuronal vulnerability. She previously conducted research at the USP Institute of Psychiatry on neuropsychiatric symptoms in long COVID and led healthcare initiatives for vulnerable populations in Brazil. These efforts earned her the USP Social Impact Award in 2025.
In her free time, Marina enjoys biking, gym workouts and cultivating succulents.
Liara Rizzi, Ph.D., M.S.
Senior Research Technologist
Dr. Rizzi's research centers on the discovery and validation of biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders, with a particular focus on Alzheimer's disease. She is focused on advancing translational approaches for early detection and characterization of neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr. Rizzi holds a doctorate and a master's degree in medical sciences, both obtained in Brazil. After completing her doctoral studies, she pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in neurology at Unicamp in São Paulo. She joined Dr. Grinberg's team at UCSF as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2025, she advanced to the role of senior research technologist in the Neurodegeneration and Sleep Pathology Lab at Mayo Clinic.
She has extensive expertise in protein analysis and assay development, including immunoenzymatic and chemiluminescent techniques. In addition, Dr. Rizzi has broad experience in designing, managing and executing both clinical and biological research projects. Her scholarly contributions bridge multiple disciplines, including neuroscience and neuropathology.
Abhijit Satpati, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Since 2025, Dr. Satpati has been a research scientist in Dr. Grinberg's team at Mayo Clinic, integrating quantitative neuropathology, spatial multi-omics and clinical sleep data to define p-tau-associated molecular changes in vulnerable neuronal populations. His long-term goal is to advance precision therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Satpati earned his doctoral degree from Bangalore University, India, studying muscarinic acetylcholine signaling and age-related cognitive decline. Motivated by a strong interest in neuroimmune or neuroglial interactions, he completed postdoctoral training at the University of North Dakota where he investigated infection-driven cortical inflammation in humanized HLA-2 mouse models. In 2021, he joined Dr. Grinberg's lab at UCSF, where he examined selective vulnerability of sleep-wake regulatory neurons across Alzheimer's disease progression.
Outside the lab, Dr. Satpati enjoys philosophy, photography and cooking.
Gowoon Son, Ph.D.
Principal Research Technologist
Dr. Son is an early-career neuroscientist whose research focuses on selective neuronal vulnerability and human neuropathology in Alzheimer's disease variants and related tauopathies, with particular attention to their role in sleep and circadian rhythm dysfunction. She investigates the mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis and heterogeneity, with the long-term goal of advancing precision and personalized therapeutic strategies.
Dr. Son earned a doctoral degree in brain and cognitive sciences (now called brain sciences) from the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology in Korea and a second doctorate in neurosurgery from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. She joined Dr. Grinberg's lab at UCSF as a postdoctoral researcher in 2021, where she established spatial proteomics and transcriptomics workflows to study the human postmortem hypothalamus and brainstem nuclei.
Dr. Son enjoys starting mornings with kouign-amann and a cappuccino — or a pour over with freshly ground light-roast beans — and high-intensity interval training workouts.
Dani M. Ushizima, Ph.D.
Expert Consultant in Computer Vision and AI
Dr. Ushizima specializes in pattern recognition and the development of advanced analytical frameworks for digital pathology. In Dr. Grinberg's lab, she focuses on automated detection and quantification of cell and protein clusters to advance the study of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Ushizima integrates deep learning techniques, including semantic segmentation, zero-shot learning and vision-language models. She combines a strong foundation in computer vision with natural language processing skills to build robust, automated systems that bridge the gap between unstructured multimodal data and high-fidelity scientific discovery. In the Grinberg Lab, she applies these AI methodologies to modernize neuropathological research workflows.
By leveraging extensive experience in open-source scientific software development and AI-driven data systems, Dr. Ushizima enhances the precision and reproducibility of large-scale pathological analysis. She turns complex biological images into actionable research insights.
Lucile H. Zhu
Statistical Programmer
Lucile drives computational efforts in the Grinberg Lab's brain bank modernization initiative, where she develops and implements scalable pipelines to improve data accessibility for research and educational use. She also has worked extensively to refine the lab's protocol for histological validation of novel imaging modalities that enable early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
Lucile earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in bioengineering and electrical engineering and computer sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. She joined Dr. Grinberg's lab at UCSF in 2022 and relocated with the team to Mayo Clinic in 2025. Through her research, Lucile has gained extensive experience in the development of data analysis and generation protocols as well as the automation of computational processing pipelines. Her interdisciplinary background allows her to bridge experimental and computational approaches in neuropathological research, with a particular interest in reproducible workflows and high-throughput data processing.