Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
Charles Bernick, MD, MPH
Site PI
Maileen Ulep, PhD, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC
Site Co-PI
Maileen Ulep, PhD, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, is a nationally board-certified nurse practitioner. She believes in advancing healthcare through research, education, and practice. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Maileen Ulep was appointed to the Cognitive Disorders Clinic at Cleveland Clinic Nevada Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in 2016. She has been involved in clinical trials since 2016. In addition to this, her research seeks to better understand the intersection between cognition, language, and culture.
Michelle Torreliza
Site Liaison
Michelle Torreliza joined Cleveland Clinic – Las Vegas in December 2020. She is originally from Los Angeles, where she worked at UCLA as a Research Coordinator from 2016 until moving to Las Vegas in November 2020. She began her full-time career as a Research Coordinator in 2003 and have worked across various therapeutic areas. When she joined UCLA in 2016, she started working on Alzheimer’s disease trials and discovered her passion and calling in this field. Currently, she serves as the Lead Clinical Research Coordinator for the Alzheimer’s disease interventional trials and as the ACTC Site Liaison.
Claudia Aguila, CCHW
Community Engagement Specialist
Claudia Aguila is a Community Engagement Specialist and Clinical Research Coordinator for the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. She holds her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of California Berkeley and brings over 6 years of leadership experience as the manager and clinic coordinator of a nonprofit organization in Oakland California. In addition, she has developed and led health education workshops for marginalized communities during her time participating in the LEAP program at Stanford. With a strong background in community partnership building and program management, Claudia is passionate about advancing brain health initiatives that bridge scientific inquiry and community impact.