Dr. Portacolone is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Institute for Health and Aging at UCSF and a Pepper Center Scholar at the Division of Geriatric Medicine at UCSF. Dr. Portacolone is also an alumna of the Butler-Williams program at the National Institute on Aging and of the Health Disparities Institute at the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Dr. Portacolone completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Turin, Italy. After working in the corporate sector in the United Kingdom, she completed an MPH degree at School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, an MBA degree at the Haas Business at UC Berkeley, and a PhD in Sociology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Science at UCSF.

Dr. Portacolone has research experience in studying cognitive impairment, older adults who are racial/ethnic minorities, innovative recruitment strategies, as well as artificial intelligence and other technologies to support people with cognitive impairment age in place. She has led six investigations that focus on identifying barriers and facilitators to acute and long-term services and supports, increasing engagement of racial/ethnic minorities in dementia research, social integration, and emergency preparedness in vulnerable older adults, the majority of them living alone. The majority of study participants in her studies belong to racial/ethnic minorities. She has received extensive training in cognitive impairment, ethics, and advanced qualitative methods, as well as mixed methods.