Principal Investigator
Ansgar Furst, PhD - Principal Investigator
Dr. Furst, a former German Air Force officer, is a Principal Investigator and Director of the California War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC) Advanced Fellowship Post-Doctoral program and Associate Director of Neuroimaging. He is also a Senior Research Scientist at the Polytrauma System of Care (PSC) at VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Dr. Furst is a Clinical Associate Professor (affiliated) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Furst serves as Associate Editor for the journal Frontiers in Neurology and is a member of the editorial board of NEUROLOGY. He has published many peer-reviewed articles on the topics of traumatic brain injury, sleep, pain and Alzheimer's disease.
Lab Staff
Gia Maramba, PhD - Research Therapist
Dr.
Maramba has been committed to promoting and delivering Evidence-Based
Psychotherapy (EBP) to veterans who struggle with depression, substance
use, PTSD, and insomnia. As an EBP training consultant, Dr. Maramba
provided competence-based training to over a hundred fellow VA
clinicians in Prolonged Exposure for PTSD, Cognitive Behavioral
Treatment for Depression, Motivational Interviewing and Motivational
Enhancement for Substance Use, and Safety Planning. Dr. Maramba received
her internship and postdoctoral trainings at the Palo Alto VA, where
she is currently affiliated with the National Center for PTSD, and
previously served as the Outpatient Mental Health Clinic Coordinator and
Local Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Coordinator. Dr. Maramba received
her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of the
Philippines, dabbled briefly in Information Systems on Wall Street,
fundraising at a women’s college, and Fine Art Consulting in Soho New
York, before returning to graduate school to pursue her first love,
psychology. Gia became intimately familiar with insomnia struggles and
the value of good sleep when she was pregnant with her twins. In her
‘free time,’ Dr. Maramba tries to keep up with her 12-year-old twins,
humor her 70-lbs boxer-mix, and be a good partner to her adoring
husband, while tending to her 50+ plants.
Donn Posner, PhD - Consultant
Dr. Donn Posner is the Founder and President of Sleepwell Consultants and has been consulting to organizations and individuals on a wide variety of sleep health issues including insomnia, circadian dysrhythmia, CPAP adherence, and parasomnias. He is also currently an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine and a consulting psychologist, for the Palo Alto VA. He is also working on a pilot aimed at the University of Pennsylvania using CBT-I techniques to decrease fatigue in breast cancer survivors by increasing total sleep time. Prior to this he spent 25 years serving as the Director of Behavioral Sleep Medicine for the Sleep Disorders Center of Lifespan Hospitals, and was a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University. Dr. Posner is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and is one of the first Certified Behavioral Sleep Medicine specialists recognized by that group. He is also a founding member of the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine and he has also now achieved the status of Diplomate with the Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine (BBSM).
Rayma Williams - Research Coordinator
Rayma
graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a Cognitive Science BS and for the
past 10 years has worked on research studies focused on sleep and mood
disorders. She is currently pursuing her Masters degree in Counseling
Psychology at Santa Clara University with the aim of becoming a
therapist specializing in sleep and mood disturbance. In her free time,
Rayma is a feral cat whisperer who enjoys baking anything and everything
involving chocolate.
Emma Kenney - Research Asisstant
Emma
graduated magna cum laude from the University of Iowa with a B.S. in
Psychology and a minor in Political Science. Her undergraduate research
work focused on school readiness, ADHD, and the development of
externalizing behaviors in children. Her undergraduate thesis examined
the role of intrusive parenting in children’s attention, externalizing
behaviors, and school outcomes. Outside of working for the VA, Emma
volunteers as a court appointed special advocate for a non-minor
dependent. She is working toward using her research and clinical skills
to pursue a Master of Social Work degree. In her free time she enjoys
reading, hiking, running her art business, and spending time with
family, friends, and her two kitties.
