Leadership Team
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Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Ph.D
Dr. Sandra Sanchez-Roige is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego and in the Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. With over 16 years of expertise in psychiatric genetics, her research focuses on the genetic and biological mechanisms underlying substance use disorders and related dimensional phenotypes, particularly impulsivity. Her work integrates human genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, electronic health records, and cross-species translational approaches to advance precision psychiatry. Dr. Sanchez-Roige is a leader in large international consortia, including PsycheMERGE, the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, and the Latin American Genomics Consortium, where she chairs substance use disorder workgroups. Since joining UCSD in 2019, she has secured over $21 million in research funding, including an NIH Avenir DP1 Award, and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals.
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Abraham Palmer, Ph.D
Dr. Abraham Palmer is a Professor and Vice Chair for Basic Science in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. His research aims to identify genes that contribute to individual differences in behavior, using integrative approaches across humans and animal models including rats, mice, and zebrafish. By combining genetics, genomics, and behavioral neuroscience, his work elucidates the molecular, cellular, and neuroanatomical mechanisms through which specific genes influence behavior. Dr. Palmer has published over 220 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and is the principal investigator of a NIDA-funded P50 National Center of Excellence, along with multiple NIH R01 and U01 grants. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of multiple research and mentoring awards.
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Natasia Courchesne-Krak, Ph.D, MPH
Dr. Natasia Courchesne-Krak is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. Her research integrates psychiatric genetics, epidemiology, and large-scale health data to examine biological and clinical factors underlying substance use disorders and related externalizing behaviors across the lifespan. She has extensive experience using electronic health record data to study substance use, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes in both general and perinatal populations, including the effects of prenatal substance exposure on child neurodevelopment. Her work focuses on identifying sex-specific and developmentally sensitive risk pathways that precede substance use disorders, including opioid use disorder, with the goal of enabling scalable, data-driven approaches to risk stratification and prevention in clinical and public health settings.
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Carla Marienfeld, MD
Carla Marienfeld, MD, DFAPA, DFASAM is board-certified in psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and addiction medicine. She is a Clinical Professor at the University of California San Diego where she is the Co-Director of the Pacific Treatment And Research Center (PacTARC), Clinical Lead for the Substance Treatment and Recovery (STAR) Program, and the Program Director for the UCSD Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship. She has authored or co-authored over five dozen peer reviewed articles, book chapters, practice guidelines, and invited commentaries, and she edited three books: Motivational Interviewing for Clinical Practice, Absolute Addiction Psychiatry Review: An essential board exam study guide, and Addiction Psychopharmacology, 3rd Ed. Dr. Marienfeld completed a fellowship in addiction psychiatry and residency training in psychiatry at Yale. She earned a medical degree with honors from Baylor College of Medicine.
Research Team
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John J Meredith, BSc
John is a bioinformatics programmer in the Sanchez-Roige Lab. He received his BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After graduation, he managed surgery EHR software at Epic for several hospitals in the United States. He got his start in academia with the Pankratz Lab at the University of Minnesota, developing software for genomic analysis with a particular focus on pediatric cancers. Currently, he is developing analysis pipelines for substance use and other psychiatric traits, and his primary focus is using cloud-based tools like the All of Us Researcher Workbench to expand these analyses to new cohorts. John enjoys spending time with his dog, running, hiking, and playing golf in his free time.
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Laura Vilar-Ribó, PhD
Laura is a postdoctoral researcher at Sanchez-Roige lab. She grew up in Barcelona, where she received her BSc in Biochemistry, MSc in Biomedical Research, and PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Barcelona. Her research focuses on unraveling the genetic mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders and complex traits, with a particular emphasis on substance use disorders (SUDs) and impulsivity. Additionally, she seeks to provide genetic insights into the heterogeneity of these conditions, paving the way for more targeted interventions and treatments. In her free time, Laura enjoys outdoor activities, hiking, yoga, and dancing salsa.
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Jean Gonzalez, BA
Jean is a PhD student in the Sanchez-Roige and Palmer Labs. He is in the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology program at UCSD where he is also a Sloan Scholar. Jean previously earned his BA in Computer Science from Vassar College. He has previously done research at the University of North Dakota, Texas A&M, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on a variety of computational biology projects. Jean is interested in the computational processing of biological data, namely genetics. Outside of the lab he is usually reading or watching classic movies.
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Anirudh R. Chandrasekaran, BS
Anirudh is a research assistant in the Sanchez-Roige and Courchesne-Krak Lab. He contributed towards designing and refining the POMS questionnaire. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego in Molecular and Cell Biology, with minors in Psychology and Human Developmental Sciences. He plans to pursue medicine, applying insights from research and human behavior to enhance patient care. Apart from the lab, Anirudh enjoys swimming, playing the violin, and trying new food places.
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Yajaira Ramos, MAS
Yajaira is a research assistant in the Courchesne-Krak and Sanchez-Roige labs. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology and Master’s degree in Clinical Research at the UC San Diego School of Medicine where she investigated risk factors for postoperative problematic opioid use among adult orthopedic patients. She plans on pursuing medical school to combine clinical research and practice to provide support for underrepresented communities. In her free time, she enjoys playing board games, spending time with friends, and exploring new places.
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Aidan Moore
Aidan is a fourth-year undergraduate student at University of California Los Angeles studying Psychology and Applied Mathematics. He plans to go to graduate school in clinical psychology, and is interested in substance use, trauma disorders, and generally the impact of adverse experiences on psychological outcomes. When not studying, Aidan enjoys watching movies, climbing, and drinking lots of coffee.
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Lilly Wolf-Hoy
Lilly Wolf-Hoy is an undergraduate student in Psychology with a specialization in Human Health at UC San Diego and pursuing a minor in Bioethics. She plans on going to medical school and is currently interested in exploring the different disciplines and work that contribute to patient care. Outside of school she spends a lot of time reading, playing the clarinet, and writing poetry.