Dr. Sasha Gorrell (she/her/hers) received a B.A. in Psychology from Columbia University and an M.A. from New York University. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University at Albany in 2018, after which she joined the UCSF team as a T32 postdoctoral scholar within the NIMH-funded Clifford Attkisson Clinical Services Research Training Program. As an Assistant Professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Gorrell’s clinical focus is in the treatment of adolescents with restrictive eating disorders, and specifically in supporting their recovery in family-based treatment. Her current research is focused on investigation of specific neurobiological risk and maintenance factors for problematic exercise behavior, as well as exploration of mechanisms related to reinforcement learning and anxiety that may be targeted within evidence-based treatment for eating disorders.
Outside of work, Sasha is a devoted mom to Siamese, a certified level one sommelier, a regular at the Sunday NY Times crossword, and an avid reader. She enjoys exploring the city and beyond with her spouse and sea glass hunting at Ocean Beach.
Kainalu Yoshida (he/him/his) graduated from Seattle University in 2024 with a B.S. in Biology. In college, Kainalu focused his studies on neurobiology and comparative vertebrate anatomy & physiology, while also working as a campus research assistant for the ornithology and ethology departments. As a research coordinator with the UCSF Pediatric Pool Department, Kainalu assists with various research projects across different medical specialties. With the UCSF Eating Disorders Program, he is assisting with an NIH-funded R21 project that investigates driven exercise in individuals with eating disorders as a way to develop exercise-based interventions, and an NIH-funded K23 project examining associations between treatment outcomes for family-based treatment and reinforcement learning. Kainalu is also assisting on a pilot-study aimed at identifying muscle-secreted biomarkers that drive muscle function and cognition in individuals with eating disorder symptoms as well as, expansion of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Capacity for Trauma-Related Conditions in the UCSF Gender Psychiatry Program. In the future, Kainalu plans to pursue an MD and return to Hawaii where he hopes to expand access to affordable and equitable healthcare in the rural neighbor islands.
Arjun Sridhar Mehta (he/him/his) graduated from Berkeley in 2023 with a B.A. in Integrative Biology and in 2025 with a MPH in Food, Nutrition, & Population Health. Since 2024, Arjun has worked at the UCSF’s Division of Adolescent Medicine as a LEAH Nutrition Trainee alongside Drs. Andrea Garber and Amanda Downey on trials studying refeeding (iStRONG) and body composition (3-DO) in hospitalized adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Arjun now joins the Gorrell Lab as a clinical research coordinator, supporting the NIMH-funded K23-awarded project on understanding the neural correlates of reinforcement learning for individuals with a compulsive exercise subtype of anorexia (BrainEx Study). He will also support the lab’s Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment study for patients with AN. Arjun hopes to become a clinician in the future, focusing on adolescent health and eating disorders.
In his free time, Arjun enjoys playing, watching, & immersing himself in all things Pokémon! Besides that, he loves to spend time with his friends or try all the California burritos that the bay has to offer!
Catherine Gao (they/them) is a third-year medical student at UCSF with a B.A. in Human Biology and a M.S. in Community Health and Prevention Research from Stanford University. Their research uses qualitative methods to better understand the experiences of youth and their caregivers during Family-Based Treatment. With the UCSF Eating Disorders Program, they published a pilot interview-based study with 10 adolescents in Family-Based Treatment, which found that adolescents felt ambivalent about their treatment experience and identified family conflict and a perception of reduced agency as particular challenges. Before medical school, Catherine's master's thesis explored pediatricians' approaches to screening for and managing care for eating disorders among their transgender and gender nonconforming patients. In the future, they are interested in training to become a child psychiatrist, with a focus on eating disorders and trans/queer adolescent mental health.
In their free time, Catherine enjoys fiction writing, sharing an apartment with two kitties (Apple and Clementine), and stumbling upon new coffee and pastry shops with friends.
David Quezada (he/him/his) graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2022 with a BA in Psychology. At USC, he developed a passion for research by investigating strategies to improve medication adherence among adolescents with chronic health conditions and examining the psychological impacts of racial discrimination. After graduating, he spent two years as an NIMH postbaccalaureate fellow studying the neural underpinnings of pediatric anxiety and supporting a clinical trial of a novel therapeutic designed to enhance traditional treatments. As a medical student in the Gorrell Lab, David is excited to further his interest in psychiatry by studying the relationship between estradiol levels and anorexia nervosa symptomatology, particularly in the domain of compulsive exercise.
In his free time, David enjoys running, playing soccer, and exploring the natural beauty of the Bay Area.
Euna Lee (she/her/hers) is a senior at Williams College, graduating in 2026 with a BA in Psychology. She is a student-athlete and captain of the Williams women’s golf team. At Williams, she works as a research assistant in a clinical psychology lab that focuses on promoting health behaviors, particularly physical activity and healthy eating. In her senior year, she will be conducting an honors thesis examining female collegiate athletes and their dual motivations for weight loss and exercise within the context of their sports. Euna plans to pursue a career in dentistry and is particularly interested in how psychological factors influence oral health. As a summer volunteer in the Gorrell Lab, she is excited to gain experience in psychiatric research and hopes to apply this knowledge to provide more holistic, trauma-informed care as a future dental provider.
In her free time, Euna enjoys cafe hopping, playing golf with friends and family, thrifting, and ranking new restaurants on her Beli. She is excited to explore more local areas in the Bay Area during the summer!
