Clinical Team

Ryan Darby is an assistant professor of neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He currently sees patients as the director of the Frontotemporal Dementia Clinic in the Department of Neurology at VUMC.

He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in psychology and neuroscience, and his medical degree from Vanderbilt University. He trained in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital as part of the Partners Neurology/Harvard Medical School program. He then received the Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Research Fellowship in Clinical Neurosciences at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He simultaneously completed a clinical fellowship in behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and McLean Psychiatric Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Lealani Mae Y. Acosta is a board-certified behavioral neurologist and an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Acosta has clinical expertise in neurodegenerative diseases in aging adults. She is a clinician in the Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology Division of the Department of Neurology where she evaluates and treats patients with memory loss symptoms. Dr. Acosta serves as a study physician for the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project and the Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.  

Dr. Acosta completed medical school at University of Virginia School of Medicine, a neurology residency at University of Virginia Health System, and a behavioral neurology fellowship at University of Florida. Dr. Acosta completed a Master of Public Health degree at Vanderbilt University. She joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2013.

Dr. James Eaton is a neurologist and an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Eaton’s research interests include the interplay between inflammation and the immune system with neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Eaton sees memory referral patients as part of the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology in the Department of Neurology and serves as a co-investigator with the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project and the Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

Dr. Eaton completed medical school at the Zucker School of Medicine in New York. He completed his residency in neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical School followed by a neuroimmunology fellowship and a cognitive and behavioral neurology fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2022.

Dr. Ciaran Michael Considine, PhD, ABPP-CN is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a board certified clinical neuropsychologist within the associated Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and graduate degree from the University of Windsor. Subsequently, he completed internship residency at the Detroit VA Medical Center, and then concurrently finished his training as a postdoctoral resident fellow at the Milwaukee VA Medical center and postdoctoral visiting fellow at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Laura Duncan is a board certified Genetic Counselor who earned her degree from University of Cincinnati. She specializes in Neurogenetics, Metabolic Bone Disease, and Pediatric genetics. 

Kiiya Shibata is a speech-language pathologist and PhD student in The Department of Hearing and Speech at Vanderbilt University. She received her BA and MS in communicative disorders at San Francisco State University in 2015, and completed fellowship training at a non-profit community-based neurorehabilitation center. Her research and clinical interests span neurogenic communication disorders, disorders of swallowing, and neuromuscular facial retraining, with a particular emphasis on diagnosis and treatment of primary progressive aphasia. 

Jerica Reeder is a Clinical Translational Research Coordinator III in the Department of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She earned her bachelors of science in psychology with a minor in biology and sociology from Tennessee Technological University. Jerica coordinates the ALLFTD research study involving patients with various dementia-related disorders such as Frontotemporal Dementia, Primary Progressive Aphasia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Corticobasal Syndrome, FTD-Motor Neuron Disease and Alzheimer's Disease. She provides assistance with the FTD support group, FTD community outreach, and brain donation program for FTD.