Lab Members

Sephira Ryman, MS, Ph.D

Dr. Sephira Ryman is an Assistant Professor and Clinical Neuropsychologist. She completed her training at the University of New Mexico Health (PhD), University of California, Los Angeles (internship), and Stanford Medical Center (fellowship). She is currently a PI on an NIH funded R03 evaluating cerebrovascular contributions to cognitive impairment in Lewy body diseases. She also is a Co-Investigator on multiple NIH funded projects examining biomarkers and neuropsychiatric functioning in older adults across Parkinson’s disease, Depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and Vascular Cognitive Impairment.  She is the Associated Clinical Core Director for the New Mexico Exploratory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Junior Director of the Administrative Core for the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) multimodal imaging of neuropsychiatric disorders. She is originally from New Mexico and thrilled to return to partner with communities to understand how her research can improve the lives of individuals impacted by neurological and psychiatric conditions.  

Nick Shaff, B.S.

Nick received his Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining the Ryman lab, Nick worked for Dr. Mayer on studies of Psychotic Spectrum Disorder and pediatric mild traumatic brain injury, running subjects through neuropsychological, clinical and MRI tests and managing data. Nick's current work involves maintaining lab software packages, managing data, and programming new data analysis pipelines for fMRI imaging. 

Natalie Hoffman, B.S.

Natalie is a graduate from Santa Clara University with a Bachelors of Science in Bioengineering. She likes to play tennis and pickleball, and when she is not at the courts or at work she likes to cook and hike. Natalie is interested in regenerative medicine and advancing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. 

Regina Tahk, B.A.

Regina is a practicum student with the GRACE lab and a 3rd year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of New Mexico. During graduate school, she has been working on research projects that look at behavioral addictions and compulsive behavior patterns. In particular, she has been interested in the social context of addictions and how social and structural factors shape self-perception of addiction, which in turn, influence diagnoses and classification of addictive behaviors. Her past and current projects involve excessive gaming behaviors, pornography use, compulsive sexual behavior, and excessive gambling. As part of her graduate clinical training, she will be working with the GRACE lab to gain more experience conducting neuropsychological assessments.

Alexandra Hernandez-Vallant, M.S.

Alexandra (Alex) is a practicum student with the GRACE Lab and University of New Mexico Nene and Jamie Koch Comprehensive Movement Disorders Center. She is a 5th year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of New Mexico. Before graduate school, Alex worked as a neuropsychology technician at Brigham & Women’s Hospital Behavioral Neurology Unit in Boston, MA where she administered neuropsychological tests to patients with a range of disorders (i.e., Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, and Parkinson’s Disease). During graduate school, she has been working on research projects to improve psychosocial interventions for alcohol and substance use disorders to better meet client needs and increase access to these treatments by attending to social determinants of health. As a part of her graduate clinical training, she is also receiving specialized training in clinical neuropsychology and will be working with the GRACE lab to learn more about biomarkers and clinical characteristics of Parkison’s disease. 

Kayla Julio, B.A.

Kayla received her Bachelors of Arts in Neuroscience and in Spanish Linguistics from Gettysburg College. She is currently in her first year of the University of Minnesota Neuroscience PhD program. We will learn more about what she decides to focus on once she completes her rotations! When Kayla is not at work she enjoys painting, hiking, and spending time with her family and her cats. 

Stephanie Nitschke, B.S.

Stephanie received her Bachelors of Science in Biology and her Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of New Mexico. She is currently attending graduate school at Bay Path University studying genetic counseling, planning to specialize in prenatal or geriatric genetic disorders. She has just completed her first clinical rotation in cancer genetics and will be rotating in a pediatric clinic this fall with one more year of school to go! She is looking forward to her Christmas break which will be spent in Australia, visit her extended relatives.  In her free time, Stephanie enjoys hiking local trails, playing with her dogs, and baking homemade treats. 

Christopher Wertz, B.A.

Chris received his Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from the University of New Mexico. He worked in the GRACE Lab from 2020 - 2022 and is now a Clinical Research Supervisor at the UNM Center for Memory and Aging. 

Anna Horner, B.A.

Anna received her Bachelors of Arts in Social Science and Languages with concentrations in Sociology, Spanish and Youth Studies from the University of Minnesota. She worked as a Research Assistant in the GRACE Lab from 2020 - 2021. She is currently an Event Coordinator at the Rio Grande Community Farm in Albuquerque.