ABOUT OUR BELIEF IN A CURE

The purpose of the Medical Advisory Council is to review grant submissions to determine their relevance and application to the core mission of The Cure Starts Now. They act to monitor and determine the framework of the grant process and then evaluate submissions bi-annually based upon funding abilities determined by the board. Once approved, this council then makes recommendations based on budget ability to the Strategic Advisory Council for approval.

Gavin Baumgardner, DO, Chair

Gavin Baumgardner, DO completed his education at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine with residency at Doctors Hospital. He is currently with Ohio Health in the capacity of an Internal Medicine Hospitalist. He is Chair of the CSN Medical Advisory Council.

Oren Becher, MD

Dr. Becher is currently the division chief of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital in New York City.  As a physician-scientist, Dr. Becher is dedicated to advancing our knowledge of the biology of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma or DIPG in the hopes that it provides new insights toward the development of more effective therapies for this extremely difficult to treat childhood brain cancer.

Shana Coley, MD, PhD

Shana Coley, MD, PhD, is Chief Resident for Anatomic Pathology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. Her thesis research at Emory University focused on transplantation immunology, following twelve years of basic research in microbiology and immunology.

Stewart Goldman, MD

Medical director, Neuro-oncology, Gus Foundation Chair of Neuro-oncology; Associate professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine

Nicholas Joseph Gottardo, MB ChB, FRACP, PhD

Consultant Paediatric Oncologist & Senior Research Fellow, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Cynthia Hawkins, MD, PhD

Dr. Hawkins is a paediatric neuropathologist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Her practice involves both surgical and autopsy neuropathology and includes neuro-oncologic, neuromuscular and neurodevelopmental disease.

Daniel McPherson, PhD

Daniel McPherson, PhD studied organic chemistry and biochemistry at Auburn University before becoming a Staff Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for Nuclear Medicine. Then after taking a position as Health Science Administrator for the National Institutes of Health with input into the grant administration position, he then moved to Cincinnati where he now operates as Section Head of Radiochemistry for a local drug company.

Michelle Monje Deisseroth, MD, PhD

Dr. Monje is an assistant professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and, by courtesy, of Pediatrics, Pathology and Neurosurgery at Stanford University. She is a pediatric neuro-oncologist and developmental neurobiologist whose laboratory is focused on elucidating DIPG developmental origins and microenvironmental determinants of growth, as well as identifying therapeutic targets for DIPG and other pediatric high-grade gliomas.

Roger J. Packer, MD

Children's National Medical Center, Senior Vice President, Center for Neuroscience and Behavioral Medicine; Director, Brain Tumor Institute; Director, Daniel and Jennifer Gilbert Neurofibromatosis Institute; Principal Investigator, Center for Neuroscience Research (CNR); Children's Research Institute (CRI)

Daniel Weiner, PhD

Daniel Weiner, PhD, specializes in pharmacometrics, which is a science specializing in quantification of drug, disease, and trial information to aid efficient drug development. He previously held executive positions with a number of pharmaceutical companies and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor in The Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy where he works on methods for precision dosing, as well as serving as an independent director for Simulations Plus.