URMC / Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience / NeURoscience Blog / February 2020 February 2020 UR Researcher Finds Unexpected Connection with Rare Disease Tufikameni Brima, Ph.D. has dedicated much of her career to understanding how brain processes differ in children and adults with genetic neurodevelopmental disabilities. Brima is a research assistant professor in the Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory (CNL) in the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience and her work is centered on two rare genetic disorders — Rett syndrome and Batten Disease.