Meet the Team
James A. Mastrianni M.D., Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Mastrianni’s special interests include early onset Alzheimer’s disease and atypical forms of dementia. His research is aimed at understanding neurodegenerative disease, in particular, the prion diseases. These unusual disorders have many similarities with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Another focus of Dr. Mastrianni is the use of specialized brain imaging techniques to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease far in advance of obvious clinical signs.
Joseph Fink, Ph.D.
Neuropsychologist
Joseph Fink, Ph.D., ABPP/CN is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist who has been on faculty at the University of Chicago in the Adult Neuropsychology Program since 1997. He completed his Masters at Harvard University, his Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame, and his fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at Northwestern University.
Tia Kostas, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine Department of Medicine Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine
Dr. Tia Kostas has an interest in caring for elderly patients with dementia and maximizing their independence and function. She has a special interest in reviewing complex medication lists — looking for drug interactions, side effects, and complexity — in order to keep cognitively-impaired patients on the safest medication regimen possible.
Maureen Lacy, Ph.D.
Neuropsychologist Department of Psychiatry Behavioral Neuroscience and Surgery
Dr. Lacy is interested in the assessment of Memory, Language, Reasoning, Spatial and Attention problems related to medical, neurologic and psychiatric conditions, including but limited to:
- Brian tumors and treatment effects (chemotherapy and radiation)
- Epilepsy (partial complex; pre/post surgical interventions)
- Traumatic head injury and concussion
- Autoimmune conditions (lupus and MS).
- Cardiac disease
- Movement disorders (Parkinson Disease)
Shellie Williams, M.D.
Geriatrician Department of Medicine Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine
Dr. Shellie Williams interest is in dementia and caregiver education/support, maintaining independent function of cognitively impaired, and palliative care. She has actively engaged in the education of medical students, residents and fellows in care of geriatric patient and palliative care needs of elderly with dementia. She is involved in patient and caregiver advocacy. She was a member of the National Alzheimer’s Association Board of Directors.
Kristin Crawford, APN
Advanced Practice Nurse Department of Neurology
Kristin brings 20+ years of vast nursing experience, ranging from the emergency room to home care. She is excited to be part of the team to provide clinically compassionate care for patients and their caregivers throughout all stages of dementia care.
Tessa Garcia McEwen, AM, LSW
Licensed Social Worker Department of Neurology Quality of Life & Family Support Services
Tessa brings 15 years working with diverse populations, doing her best to listen first before giving care. She is interested in providing patients, care partners, and families with personalized access to resources and exploring strategies together for increased quality of life. At UChicago Medicine, Tessa primarily supports all of those that come through The Memory Center, with Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias (ADRDs).
Fabiana Glazer
Executive Director GoldMind Arts & Aging 'Art Is...' Therapeutics Program
Fabiana is the Executive Director of the ‘Art Is…’ therapeutics program, a hands-on art making program for patients of The Memory Center of The University of Chicago Medicine and their caregivers. This innovative and essential program provides those living within the memory loss community countless benefits and has an enormous impaction quality of life. As the population of older adults rapidly increases and research proves the effects of the arts in patient care, this growing field provides a glimpse into the future of arts and healthcare, as well as the dementia community.
Currently, the featured program at The Memory Center is ‘Art Is…In’, an at-home pandemic relief initiative with handmade art kits delievered weekly to each participant’s door. For more information, visit: www.thememorycenter.uchicago.edu/artisin
www.goldmindartsandaging.com
Christina Podany, AM, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker Caregiver Support Group Co-Facilitator University of Chicago Outpatient Senior Health Center at South Shore
Christina, a former clinical intern of the South Shore Senior Center, is a graduate of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. She moved home to Pittsburgh after graduating, where she worked at The Alzheimer’s Association and in hospice care. Since her return to Chicago, she worked with the geriatric population at Oak Street Health, and is excited to be back ‘home’ at SSSC. Christina is part of the Memory Center team, as co-facilitator for the monthly Caregiver Support Group.
Todd Nader, MA
Neuropsychology Clinic Supervisor
Mignon Kemp
Administrative Assistant Department of Neurology