Sean Scott, President
Sean came to ALS TDI in 2000 when his mother was diagnosed with ALS. Beginning as a volunteer, Sean quickly assumed the management and direction of the research and development program. He was responsible for developing the Institute’s pipeline software, which surveys all known therapeutics and places values on them such that millions of dollars in resources can be allocated appropriately. Under his leadership, the R&D group has pioneered new pharmacological, surgical, study design and statistical techniques for a new generation of previously uncharacterized transgenic mice. ALS TDI’s drug screening program has run more than 750 animal studies with more than 22,000 mice, attracting the attention of corporate research departments. This allows Sean to build strong relationships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies alike, partnerships that accelerate the pace of drug development and bring millions of dollars to developing ALS therapeutics. Sean earned an undergraduate degree in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley.

Steve Perrin, Ph.D. , Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Perrin brings to the Institute more than 20 years of experience in genomics and proteomics applied to translational research. Previously, he spent nearly seven years at Biogen Idec, Inc., most recently as associate director, responsible for molecular profiling in genomics and proteomics, service support for Affymetrix and other custom microarrays, and worked with project teams in experimental design and data interpretation to understand the mechanism of motor neuron loss in multiple mouse models of motor degeneration. Previously, he was a scientist at Biogen, Aventis Pharmaceuticals and Ariad Pharmaceuticals, and has served as a research assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine. He earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Boston University School of Medicine, and a B.S. in biology from Boston College.

Nancy Kelly , Vice President, Business Development
Ms. Kelly came to the Institute in 2000 when a family friend was diagnosed with ALS. Nancy built and manages ALS TDI's complex drug acquisition process, used to acquire novel experimental compounds from pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. Over her six plus years of service to the Institute, Nancy has developed high-profile collaborations with more than 40 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies — partnerships that produce several million dollars in direct revenue and donations of scientific resources. Prior, Ms. Kelly was co-founder and Vice President of Mirage Media, Inc. of San Francisco. She earned an undergraduate degree in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley.

Maureen A. Lister, Chief Financial Officer

Al Gill, Ph.D. , Senior Director of Pharmacology
Al is an experienced pharmacologist/physiologist with a thorough understanding of practical investigation in complex in vivo animal systems. He came to ALS TDI after a one-year immersion in Huntington’s disease drug discovery as the Director and Head of Pharmacology at EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company concentrating on neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to EnVivo he worked for 13 years in Biogen and Biogen Idec’s drug discovery research division where he instituted Biogen’s Pharmacology Department. These efforts led to drug candidates that were the basis for collaboration with Merck and Co. for their clinical development, and to small molecule and protein potential therapeutics selected for development by Biogen Idec itself. Prior to working for Biogen, Alan worked for 12 years with Johnson & Johnson’s worldwide drug discovery research division. He received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the M.S. Hershey Medical Center of the Pennsylvania State University, and his Master’s degree in Physiology and Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of San Francisco.

Bashar Al-Nakhala, Director of Research Informatics
Bashar manages ALS TDI’s mouse research data system (LIMS) and will architect new LIMS systems for managing mouse gene research data. For many years he was a technical consultant to large companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com, Serono Pharmaceutical, as well as nonprofits YouthBuild USA, Dimock Services, and the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. Most recently, Bashar spent five years at enterprise newsletter company ImakeNews Inc, where he designed newsletter publishing and enterprise delivery systems. He holds software engineering and computer science degrees from the University of Washington and Wentworth Institute of Technology respectively.

Fernando Vieira, Director Animal Study Operations
Fernando has worked with ALS TDI's R&D group since 2001. He established the laboratory’s mouse tissue bank and developed a novel procedure for delivering drugs directly into the intrathecal space surrounding the spinal cord. As ALS TDI’s primary surgeon, Fernando directs mouse studies and develops protocol. His previous research includes characterizing neointimal hyperplasia in transposed jugular veins grafted to carotid arteries, and studying intimal hyperplasia of carotid arteries when exposed to changes in sheer stress. Fernando is an MD/PhD candidate at Harvard Medical School and holds an undergraduate degree in biological engineering from the University of Florida.

Ken Thompson, Director of Operations
In his unique role at ALS TDI, Ken ensures the ongoing success of ALS TDI's pivotal mouse studies program. Ken manages all laboratory functions including staffing, working with breeders and ensuring ALS TDI maintains the highest operational and process standards. In addition, Ken manages mouse studies, initiates and oversees all studies in the mouse research data system (LIMS), does formulations and creates daily drug solutions. A close friend of ALS patient Stephen Heywood, Ken discontinued his work in marine biology at the University of Alaska in 2000 to join ALS TDF as a formulations scientist. Ken's previous research experience includes the molecular examination of starvation markers in larval stage cod at the University of Rhode Island.

Jeyanthi Ramasubbu, Ph.D., Associate Director of Pharmacology
A pharmaceutical scientist specializing in controlled drug delivery, Jeyanthi came to ALS TDI in 2002, and after a short sabbatical in Switzerland, returned in 2006. With 15 years experience, Jeyanthi has worked with anticancer, osteoporosis and peptide/protein drugs, vaccines, and polymer engineering to design delivery systems. As Senior Scientist at OraVax (now Acambis) and Periodontix (now Demegen), and as Visiting Scientist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Jeyanthi focused on oral delivery of vaccines against H.pylori (for gastric ulcers) and E.coli (for traveler’s diarrhea), and implantable wafers containing histatin peptides (for periodontitis). At ALS TDI, Jeyanthi is exploring ways to reformulate drugs to facilitate delivery, absorption and distribution. Having prepared several FDA filings, she is applying both her drug development and regulatory experience to moving ALS TDI’s projects forward. Jeyanthi earned her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Madras, India, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.

John M. Lincecum, Ph.D., Associate Director of Research Biology
For four years John co-lead Biogen Idec's therapeutic discovery program in ALS and motor neuron disease. An expert in gene therapy for motor neuron disease, John has developed several innovative, patented techniques that have led to gene expression levels far beyond current published studies. At ALS TDI, John is expanding his work in retrograde transport of gene therapies injected into muscle, as well as direct intrathecal delivery of promising vectors — crucial in the validation of pivotal pathways. John received his doctorate in biochemistry from Boston University and pursued post-doctoral study at Harvard Medical School.

John McCarty, Ph.D., Principal Scientist
John analyzes potential ALS treatments and helps patients and families understand how potential treatments might relate to their treatment strategies. In his 20 years in academic and applied biotechnology development, John has had significant exposure to the challenges of drug and diagnostics development, leading projects at Targenta (formerly Phage Tech) in Montreal and ECI Biotech. John has worked broadly in various aspects of molecular biology, with a focus on protein biochemistry. He has conducted projects on heat shock proteins and apoptosis, each believed to play a role in ALS onset and progression. John’s experience in experimental biology on relevant pathways, coupled with his insight into the drug development process, helps him correlate many disparate aspects of ALS treatment discovery. John has conducted research at the Center for Molecular Biology in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Singapore. He earned his doctorate in biology at MIT.

Nels H. Mahle, Ph.D., Associate Director of Mass Spectrometry
Nels runs ALS TDI's Mass Spectrometry Core, a system that identifies distinct drugs and their levels in the target spinal tissue, vital to analyzing drug efficacy in ALS mouse studies. With more than 20 years experience at Dow Chemical and Synomics Pharmaceutical Services, Nels is expert in developing, validating and running methods for the quantitation of drugs, and has broad knowledge of peptide analysis using the latest manual and automated extraction techniques. Nels has authored nearly 30 research papers and holds one patent. He is an active member of the American Chemical Society, American Society for Mass Spectrometry, the Greater Boston Mass Spectrometry Discussion Group and the Central New England Chromatography Council. Nels earned his doctorate in analytical chemistry from Northern Illinois University and completed a post-doctorate fellowship at Purdue University.

Vladimir Morozov, Ph.D., Senior Scientist / Computational Biology

Jerry De Zutter, Ph.D. , Scientist II
Jerry runs ALS TDI's gene profiling activities. In previous projects, he has had great success identifying signal transduction pathways emanating from novel cytokine receptors that mediate inflammation. To identify potential therapeutic targets, Jerry has regularly designed and implemented immunecomplex-kinase activity/inhibition assays to examine the phosphorylation state of various signaling intermediates in response to novel cytokine treatment. Jerry spent four years at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where he gained substantial experience in drug discovery. He earned his doctorate in molecular medicine, specializing in neurodegeneration research, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Gordon Roble, DVM, Scientist I
Gordon holds a degree as Doctor of Veterinary Medicine – and will contribute both to the effort of dissecting the biology behind the disease as well as exercising his veterinary skills in working with and caring for the mouse colony. Gordon began his career working on efficacy studies at TDI in 2000 after he obtained his degree in biology from Swarthmore College. He took a hiatus from the research world to pursue a doctorate of veterinary medicine at Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine and performed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Pennsylvania before returning to TDI.

Monica Z. Wang, Scientist I
Formerly a member of Biogen Idec's ALS discovery program, Monica has 18 years of basic research experience in stem cell research and animal surgeries in diabetes and Parkinson's disease. She has spent five years focusing on HIV research at the New England Medical Center Hospital. She has extensive experience in the Cambridge biotechnology community, having held a senior position at Curis, where she filed successful patents. Monica is an expert in advanced confocal microscopy techniques, fluorescence, in-situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and cutting edge 3D histology using polymerized tissue sections. Her novel techniques include quantification of motor neurons, extraction of complex nerve assemblies, and imaging of ALS neuromuscular junctions. She received an undergraduate degree in microbiology from the University of Massachusetts, and is pursuing a graduate degree in biology through the Harvard Extension School.

Beth Levine, Senior Associate Scientist, Project Management

Guangde Li, M.D., Senior Associate Scientist
With ten years of post graduate research experience in nerve regeneration, AIDS, inflammatory diseases, and cancers, Dr. Li brings critical knowledge and technical expertise to the molecular biology research team at ALS TDI. Guangde has worked previously in both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, Peptimmune, and Wyeth Inc. He has achieved advanced technical skills in molecular biology, cell biology, and animal surgeries. In the academic setting, Guangde spent several years at Children’s Hospital in Boston focusing on nerve regeneration projects and doing in vitro drug screening using goldfish retinal ganglion cell based assays. Dr. Li graduated from Shandong Medical College and originally practiced medicine in China.

Ricky Sanchez, Senior Associate Scientist

Wei Qun Zhang, Senior Associate Scientist

Annette Ferrari, Associate Scientist II
Prior to joining ALS TDI in the spring of 2007, Annette was part of a team at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute responsible for the creation of a searchable brain-atlas database to characterize gene expression patterns of murine transcription factors in the developing mouse brain. Annette will be putting this experience to good use in establishing our in situ hybridization capabilities. She holds a MS in Cellular & Molecular Nutrition from Tufts University and BS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from UMass Amherst.

Reenu Pandey, Associate Scientist II
Reenu joined ALS TDI in the fall of 2005 and has participated in various projects in gene expression including the validation of the transcriptome analysis of the ALS mouse. Previously, she studied at Oklahoma State University where she earned an MS in Biomedical Sciences after finishing a BS in Computer Science. Reenu grew up in Zambia, on the African continent, where she enjoyed playing soccer and rugby.

Samantha Crocker, Associate Scientist I
A member of ALS TDI’s in vivo team since 2002, Samantha manages many aspects of mouse research. Handling more than 120 mice a day, she administers drugs, scores mouse neurological impairment, harvests mouse tissue and participates in surgeries. Moving forward, Samantha will prepare tissues for our Mass Spectrometry Core, a system that identifies distinct drugs and their levels in the target tissue. Previously, she was an animal care technician at Harvard University. Currently, Samantha studies biotechnology at Middlesex Community College.

Shawn Sullivan, Application Architect
Joining ALS TDI in 2006, Shawn’s role is to help build and maintain applications. Specifically, Shawn is working to expand the Web functionality of the ALS TDI drug discovery pipeline, the process database system we use to identify, evaluate, select and rank candidate drugs for testing. Shawn spent five years as a software developer at ImakeNews, where he helped clients such as Cisco Systems, Progress Software and Parametric Technology develop custom newsletters. He also has experience building AutoCAD import tools, and in QA (quality assurance.) Shawn attended Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Andy Moreno, Research Associate II
Andy joined ALS TDI’s in vivo team in 2002. Formerly an assistant in an animal facility at Harvard University, Andy’s duties include administering drugs to ALS mice, scoring neurological impairment, performing surgery and collecting tissue. He manages four to six studies simultaneously, collecting and entering data into the LIMS database. In time, he will expand his surgical skills and perform intrathecal surgeries. Andy studied political science for two years at Boston College.

Josh Kidd, Research Associate I
Josh is a Massachusetts native with 5 years experience working with ALS mice at ALS TDI. Before coming to the Institute, Josh attended Minuteman Vocational Technical High school in Lexington, MA where he earned a certificate in graphic design. After a brief stint at Mt. Ida College in Newton, Josh held various Customer Service positions throughout the state before finding his way to ALS TDI. Josh’s grandfather had Huntington’s Disease. An avid Red Sox fan, Josh calls Lexington home.

Matt Ferola, Animal Technician II
Having lost his grandmother’s cousin to ALS, Matt has been an inspired member of the animal care team at ALS TDI since 2003. His primary goal is to maintain the facility and provide clean and healthy environments for all of the mice involved in research studies. Matt grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts and pursued a certificate in graphic communications before joining the research staff at ALS TDI.

Carlos Maya, Animal Technician I

David McKanna, Vice President of Development

Molly Cotter, Vice President of Advancement

Derek Breau, Northeast Regional / Driving 4 Life Director

Alicia Favicchio , Event & Program Manager

Mary Beth Geise, R.N., Resource Nurse Consultant

Robert Goldstein, Community Relations Manager

Lou Kobbs, Southeast/Southwest Regional Director

Mat Mendel, Event Development Director, Tri-State Trek Fndr/Dir

Vanessa Plant, Event & Program Manager

Kim Sciascia, Human Resources / Operations Director

Mike Shannon, Northwest/Mountain Regional Director

Vanessa Winfield, Customer Relations Manager

Amy Whipple, Midwest Regional Director