Caregiving, Aging, Resilience, & Dementia Lab (CARD)
University of Virginia
Meet the Team

Carol Manning, PhD, ABPP-CN
Dr. Manning is a board certified clinical neuropsychologist and serves as the Director of the Memory Disorders Neuroclinical Trials for the UVA Department of Neurology. She is also the founding co-Director of the Virginia Alzheimer’s Disease Center, the CARD Lab, and founding Director of the UVA Memory and Aging Care Clinic. Her research interests include multiple aspects of behavioral neuroscience with special emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease and caregivers.
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Virginia Gallagher, PhD
Virginia T. Gallagher, PhD is the Co-Director of the CARD Lab, Assistant Professor of Neurology, and a neuropsychologist. She has research and clinical expertise in understanding and treating the cognitive, psychological, and health impacts of cognitive decline among patients and their caregivers. She is particularly interested in understanding and supporting the needs of caregivers often underrepresented in research (for example, young adult caregivers, rural caregivers, and sandwiched caregivers).
Virginia Gallagher Google Scholar profile

Shannon Reilly, PhD
Dr. Reilly’s research focuses on dementia care partner science and risk and protective factors for neurodegenerative conditions. Clinically, she works at UVA Health’s Memory and Aging Care Clinic (MACC), primarily conducting neuropsychological evaluations and clinical interventions with individuals experiencing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia of various etiologies.

Agu Rossetti, PhD, ABPP
Maria A. Rossetti, PhD, is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist. She works with adults and older adults, who are referred for a variety of reasons, including memory loss, movement disorders, and other neurological conditions. She has a specific interest in Huntington’s disease and is the co-director of the UVA Health multidisciplinary Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence.

Colleen Webber, CCRC
Colleen completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at Mary Baldwin College. She joined the Memory Disorders Division of the University of Virginia’s Adult Neurology department in 2005. She has over 19 years of experience coordinating clinical trials for various types of neurodegenerative diseases, including but not limited to Alzheimer ’s disease, Lewy Body Dementia, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Mika Labergerie, CCRC
Mika graduated from Radford University with a BS in Psychology in 2004. He started his love of research while working at Yale University in the Division of Addictions. Over the course of his career, he has worked abroad in Europe as an English teacher as well as a community support professional and counselor. He is now working for UVA Neurology in the Memories Division as a Clinical Research Coordinator. Outside of work, Mika loves to create and play music and spend time with his family.

Chris Sheehan, Clinical Research Coordinator
Chris studied cognitive science and statistics at the University of Virginia. She joined the Brain Institute at UVA as a clinical research coordinator following her graduation in 2024. She supports the CARD lab’s research involving care partners for people with memory and thinking challenges.

Anna Arp, CCRC
Anna Arp is a Clinical Research Coordinator with the UVA Brain Institute and is certified as a Clinical Research Professional. She has 10 years of experience managing research trials of all shapes and sizes across multiple fields. Her current work focuses on research in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, as well as support for care partners.

Jessica Samet, Dementia Care Coordinator
Jessica received her Masters of Social Work and Graduate Certificate in Aging Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has spent the majority of her career guiding and supporting families who are caregivers for, or are living with, some form of dementia. She is currently a Care Coordinator in UVA Neurology's Memory and Aging Disorders Clinic, and prior to that, held a similar role at the Alzheimer’s Association in Richmond. When the weather cooperates, you can also find Jessica in her yard.

Ishan C. Williams, PhD, FGSA
Dr. Williams is a social and behavioral scientist and Professor at the University of Virginia, School of Nursing. Her background and PhD are in human development and family studies. Her research focuses on quality of life among older adults with dementia and their family caregivers, chronic disease management for older adults, and culturally appropriate community-based interventions among African American/Black adults. As a community-based researcher, her research further concentrates on using an equity approach to understanding the social and environmental determinants of health that impact health care access and treatment of disease for older adults and their family caregivers with a particular eye on minoritized and under-resourced populations.

Olivia Smith, Undergrad Researcher
Olivia is a third-year Human Biology student from Houston, TX, pursuing a future career in medicine. She is passionate about understanding how neurodegenerative diseases impact both patients and caregivers, particularly through the lens of social and cultural factors that shape healthcare experiences. Her research interests include caregiver burden, health disparities in neurodegenerative disease, and the social dimensions of memory loss and aging.

Natalie Merberg, Undergrad Researcher
Natalie is a third year neuroscience student with a minor in data science from Bethesda, MD. She is interested in exploring approaches to Alzheimer’s disease prevention and how artificial intelligence can be used to better support dementia care partners and improve caregiving resources. In the C.A.R.D. Lab, she assists with outreach, study recruitment, data collection and analysis, and publication writing. Her research interests include cognitive aging, caregiver support, and the intersection of technology and brain health.

Malcolm Woollett, Undergrad Researcher
Malcolm is a third-year Biology student pursuing a Spanish minor on the pre-medical track at the University of Virginia. Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, he is interested in improving dementia care through research and culturally competent healthcare. In the C.A.R.D. Lab, he supports research projects, assists with scientific writing, and helps manage the lab's social media. His research interests include Alzheimer's disease, caregiver support, health disparities, and improving healthcare access through language and communication.
Alumni

Ashleigh Patterson
Ashleigh Patterson is a former undergraduate researcher in the lab, where she gained over three years of experience as a clinical researcher. She presented her poster on caregiver time scarcity at the 3rd European Congress of Neurology and Neuropsychiatry in Amsterdam in 2025 and was honored with 2ndplace for the Best Poster Award. She now works at the Triangle Insights Group in Raleigh, North Carolina, applying her undergraduate training to life sciences commercial strategy and pharmaceutical innovation.

Ryan Thompson White
Dr. Thompson White is a former post-doctoral fellow in the lab. He is now a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University. During his time in the lab, he first authored a publication on the feasibility and acceptability of a care coordination clinical trial conducted at UVA (ICECaP) and presented his work at several international conferences.

Savana Naini
Dr. Naini is a former post-doctoral fellow in the lab. She is now a faculty member at the University of Minnesota. While at UVA, she first authored a paper outlining UVA’s approach to meeting the demand for brief neuropsychological assessment for monoclonal antibody treatment candidates for Alzheimer’s disease.

Simona Hagos
Simona Hagos is a former undergraduate researcher in the lab, where she spent 2 years as a clinical research coordinator on the DYADEM’s sleep study as well as on caregiver support and AI chatbot studies. She presented her poster on physical activity and substance use among dementia caregivers at the AAN’s annual 2026 conference in Chicago. She was awarded the Echols scholar’s Ingrassia Research Grant for her research and presentation in Chicago. She now works at Orthopedic One in Gahanna, Ohio, as a medical scribe as she prepares to apply to medical school