Mercedes Paredes

Mercedes Paredes is associate professor in the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience and Biomedical Sciences graduate programs at UCSF. A native of Los Angeles, CA, she received her undergraduate degree in biochemical sciences from Harvard University and then joined the UCSF-MSTP where she did her graduate thesis with Samuel Pleasure and Scott Baraban studying cortical malformations. She subsequently did residency in neurology at UCSF and postdoctoral training in the Alvarez-Buylla lab where she studied the development and survival of cortical inhibitory neurons. Her lab focuses on identifying features of neuronal progenitor proliferation and migration that are unique to the gyrencephalic brain, with an emphasis on the perinatal period. Their approach is to advance ways to directly investigate the human brain and better model its development using systems like the piglet cortex. She is a practicing neurologist that serves epilepsy patients with neurodevelopmental disorders, serves as the associate co-director for the UCSF MSTP, and holds a passion for mentoring UIM (or underrepresented in medicine) in careers in medicine, STEM, and neurology.