Scott Mackin, PhD 

Principal Investigator, [email protected]

Dr. Mackin is a clinical neuropsychologist and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. His program of research is focused on structural and functional brain abnormalities associated with accelerated cognitive decline in older adults with depression. He currently splits his time at the SF VA Medical Center were he sees patients and is running research at UCSF within the LLD lab.

Dr. Mackin completed his undergraduate degree from Dickinson College, his Masters from West Chester University, and his PhD from Penn State.  He completed his neuropsychology internship at the Medical University of South Carolina and his fellowship at the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center. He has held a faculty position at UCSF since 2003. 

J, Craig Nelson, M.D.

Principal Investigator, [email protected]

J. Craig Nelson, M.D. has been a Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF since 2002. He holds the Leon J. Epstein Endowed Chair in Geriatric Psychiatry. He is the Director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program and the Director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic at UCSF. Prior to 2002 he was Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Nelson is the past president of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. He has published over 200 scientific articles, chapters, or books and has been listed in “Best Doctors in America” since its inception. 

Dr. Nelson completed his undergraduate training at Stanford University, his medical training at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his psychiatry residency at Yale University School of Medicine. He is board certified in adult psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry.

Maria Kryza-Lacombe, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher; [email protected]

Dr. Kryza-Lacombe is a postdoctoral fellow in Neuropsychology/Geropsychology at the Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Centers (MIRECC) Advanced Fellowship program at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, and is affiliated with the Late Life Depression Program at UC San Francisco. Her research focuses on the intersection of mental and cognitive health and has been informed by perspectives from neuroscience, neuropsychology, and mental health with a strong focus on clinical translation. She examines the neural and neuropsychological mechanisms underlying emotional and cognitive dysfunction and resilience in older adults and how these mechanisms can be leveraged to inform cognitive and behavioral prevention and intervention efforts to optimize wellbeing and vitality during the aging process.

Dr. Kryza-Lacombe completed her undergraduate degree at SUNY Plattsburgh and a master’s degree at City College of New York. She completed her PhD at the San Diego State University/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Neuropsychology, and her Neuropsychology internship at the San Francisco VA.