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Parkinson & Other Movement Disorders Center
Research Team

 

Our research team is responsible for coordinating clinical trials — in doing so they are the liaisons between our center and the community participating in clinical research.

Meet the Research Team

 

  • Gail Reiner, DNP, FNP-C

    Gail Reiner, DNP, FNP-C

    Nurse Practitioner

    Gail Reiner joined UC San Diego Department of Neurosciences in 2009 as Family Nurse Practitioner with a Doctorate in Nursing from the University of San Diego participating in mitochondrial medicine, neonatal seizures, tic disorders, and Smith-Magenis Syndrome (SMS) research and clinical practice with Dr. Richard Haas.  She is certified to provide Comprehensive Behavior Intervention for Tics (CBIT).  Gail has given invited talks for SMS  families for 12 years with Dr. Ann Smith (NIHGR/NIH) in the US, England and Australia and has participated in humanitarian projects in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Honduras, Mexico and Estonia.  She also volunteers as a brown-card chaplain at Donovan State Prison. 

  • Jo A. Talledo Benrubi

    Jo A. Talledo Benrubi

    Clinical Research Manager

    Jo A. Talledo Benrubi (she/her) is a graduate of UC San Diego and has worked for UC San Diego Health for all of her professional career. Ms. Talledo Benrubi started in the Department of Psychiatry as a student with Dr. Neal Swerdlow, ultimately becoming his program manager. She has managed multiple studies for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease, and is co-author of 50+ abstracts and 30+ manuscripts. She joined the Parkinson and Other Movement Disorders Center in 2024.

  • Matthew Salcedo

    Matthew Salcedo

     Assistant Clinical Regulatory Research Coordinator

    Matthew graduated from UC Irvine with a Bachelor's degree in Public Health. He began his career in research with UC San Diego in the Department of Ophthalmology at the Hamilton Glaucoma Center as a Clinical Research Coordinator. He was a study coordinator on over 20+ studies and co-authored a manuscript. He joined the Movement Disorders Center in 2024.

  • Christina Addington

    Christina Addington

    Senior Clinical Research Coordinator

    Christina graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Science in Cell and Developmental Biology. She began her career in research in 2007 at UC Irvine and has since been a study coordinator on over 45 Clinical Trials in the fields of neurology, psychiatry and rheumatology.

  • Jasmin Hernandez

    Jasmin Hernandez

    Clinical Research Coordinator

    Jasmin graduated from CSU San Marcos in 2018 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Physiology. She began with Infectious Disease clinical research at the Naval Medical Center San Diego in 2019 and transitioned to the UC San Diego Movement Disorders Center in October 2021.

  • Michael Skipworth

    Michael Skipworth

    Clinical Research Coordinator

    Michael graduated from UC San Diego in 2021 with a Bachelor's degree in Cognitive Psychology. He began research at Cerro Coso Community College as an institutional student research before transferring to UC San Diego and working at the Moores Cancer Center as a student. After completing his undergraduate studies, he has joined the Movement Disorders Center as a Research Associate. 

  • Katheryn Ehlen

    Katheryn Ehlen

    Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator

    Katheryn graduated from UC San Diego in 2024 with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health. She began as an undergraduate student volunteer on the team in 2022 and transitioned to a Research Associate position after completing her studies.