Program Director
Sarah Hillenbrand
Sarah Hillenbrand earned her PhD in neuroscience at UC Berkeley, using functional magnetic resonance imaging to study human motor learning. She taught courses in neuroscience, general scientific method, science writing, and storytelling at Stanford University in the Thinking Matters program. She later developed and taught courses in science communication in Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric. Before coming to USF, she developed and taught courses on psychology, social justice, media literacy, and college and career readiness in Bay Area high schools. Now at USF, she works to combine her love for the brain and nervous system with her passion for creating meaningful, memorable educational experiences for all learners. As director of the neuroscience program at USF, she oversees the development of the new interdisciplinary major which aims to center neurodiversity and create a more just world.
Full Time Faculty
Narayan Sankaran
Narayan Sankaran, PhD, is both a neuroscientist and neuroethicist. As a neuroscientist, his research seeks a mechanistic account of how the human auditory system enables perception of complex sounds – such as music and speech. To do this, he combines computational modeling, machine learning, and human neurophysiological measurements at different spatial scales using both intracranial and scalp-based recording techniques. As a neuroethicist, his research considers the ethical and societal implications of emerging neurotechnologies like brain-computer interfaces that decode information from users’ brain activity. Dr. Sankaran joins the Neuroscience Department following two postdoctoral fellowships in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF and the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public at UC Berkeley. His research has been published in numerous journals, including Science Advances, the Journal of Neuroscience, and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
Part-Time Faculty
Jacqueline Lo
Jacqueline Lo is a neuroscientist and geroscientist. She earned her PhD at USC, where she studied cellular stress pathways and other genetic pathways that influence the biology of aging. As a graduate student, she used genetic tools in C. elegans and biochemical techniques in human cell cultures to explore how different genes and pathways affect health-span and lifespan. As a post-doctoral researcher, she combined her previous expertise with neuroscience training to investigate how the brain regulates organismal aging. Her research focuses on how the brain uses a a diverse class of molecules called neuropeptides to communicate with the rest of the body, and how disruptions in this delicate coordination and homeostasis contribute to systemic aging and age-related diseases. In this work, she discovered that manipulating neuropeptide signaling involved in reproductive biology can alter both health-span and lifespan. Dr. Lo is passionate about training young scientists and introducing students to research. Her teaching experience includes mentoring undergraduate students, particularly in laboratory work and research.
Maryam Bijanzadeh
Maryam Bijanzadeh is an Assistant Professional Researcher at UCSF’s Neuroscape Center, where she examines how emotional behavior is encoded in the brain and body. She previously worked as a Machine Learning Scientist at iRhythm Technologies, developing ML models to detect cardiac arrhythmias. During her postdoctoral training at UCSF, she analyzed large neurophysiological datasets from patients with intracranial electrodes, using advanced signal processing to identify brain networks underlying affective behaviors like smiling. She earned her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Utah, where she studied sensory processing across the visual cortex, providing new insights into feedforward and feedback neural circuits. Her teaching experience spans undergraduate and graduate levels, with guest lectures and seminars at institutions including UCSF, the University of Utah, the University of San Francisco, and the Community College of San Francisco.
Program Assistant
Mia Richter
Mia Richter graduated from USF in 2023 with a major in US History and a minor in Peace and Social Justice. During undergrad Mia was a part of many clubs on campus and studied abroad in London in 2022. While in school and following graduation, Mia worked as the Assistant Club Sport Manager for USF’s Recreational Sports Department, where she oversaw 23 club sports and six intramural leagues. Her leadership and organizational skills in that role led her to her current position as Program Assistant in the Department of Neuroscience and Special/Emerging Programs, within the Dean’s Office.