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2009 Board of Directors
SPF Medical Advisor
2008 Scientific Advisory Board
Officers
Mike Podanoffsky, President, mike.podanoffsky@sp-foundation.org
Mike has 30+ years of experience in software engineering. He has worked for IBM,
Lotus, Cisco, and is currently at Sentillion, the leading software vendor for hospitals.
An avid marathoner, Mike ran 20 marathons since 1991, usually raising money for
various non-profit causes like Team In Training. Mike holds a Bachelor's of Mathematics
degree from the University of Texas and has done some post graduate work at Harvard
and the University of MA. He lives in York, Maine with his wife and was recently
diagnosed with PLS.
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Linda Gentner, Vice President, linda.gentner@sp-foundation.org
Linda was installed as a member of the SPF Board of Directors in 2003 and co-chaired
the Program Committee. She is a graduate of Southern Ohio College and was a purchasing
agent. She has volunteered for more than a decade for several community organizations
including the area's leading hospital, where she has held leadership and board positions.
When Linda developed PLS, she became involved with the PLS online patient community
and served the UCSF ALS Research Center as a contact for PLS patients. Thanks in
large part to her efforts with the online patient community, several PLS research
grants were awarded and the NORD PLS Physician's Guide was developed. She lives
in Fremont, California with her husband. In addition to serving as SPF Vice President,
she continues to chair the Program Committee and oversee other special programs
including co-chairing the TeamWalk Committee.
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David Lewis, Treasurer, david_lewis@sp-foundation.org
David is an SPF incorporating board member, served on the Foundation Steering Committee
and has been the SPF Treasurer since inception. He is the Chief Financial Officer
for Pezold Companies and has over 25 years of business management experience. David
has served his community in a variety of leadership and membership roles including
president of Columbus Kiwanis Club. David holds a BS in Accounting from the University
of Alabama and earned a CPA license in 1982. David has childhood-onset HSP,
lives in Columbus, Georgia and has one daughter . David also chairs the SPF
Financial Committee.
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Frank Davis, Secretary,frank.davis@sp-foundation.org
Frank is the President of Pittman & Davis, a direct marketing catalog company
specializing in the sale of perishable food items. He also serves as the President
of the National Association of Perishable Shippers and has served in an advisory
capacity to the US Postal Service. Over the past two years, Frank has donated his
services to the SPF by doing several large mailings for the Foundation. He has Bachelors
degrees in business administration and sociology from Trinity University. He has
HSP and lives in Harlingen, Texas with his wife. In addition to serving as SPF Secretary,
Frank is involved in fundraising initiatives.
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Members |
Larry Asbury, Member, larry_asbury@sp-foundation.org
Larry joined the SPF Board in 2006. was diagnosed with PLS in 2002 and remains firm
in his commitment since then to supporting the SPF with involvement in numerous
events across the country. He is a retired executive of a national real estate owner/management
company located in Washington, D.C. As President, he was responsible for 3500 employees.
He served and volunteered on many national boards and received national recognition
and awards for his dedication and leadership skills. Larry holds a B.S. in accounting
from Missouri State University and served in the Army for three years in Germany.
Larry and wife, Brenda were married in 2004 and travel the U.S. fulltime in a 45
foot RV. He has two stepchildren.
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 Corey Braastad, PhD,, Member,
cbraastad@athenadiagnostics.com
Corey joined the SPF Board in October 2008. He is a Scientist and Manager of Laboratory
Operations for Athena Diagnostics in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a Scientist at
Athena, Corey has developed new clinical diagnostic tests for HSP. Corey received
his PhD in Molecular, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University for
work in the field of DNA repair. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University
of Massachusetts Medical School in the field of cell cycle control of gene transcription.
His professional interests are to research appropriate reliable clinical diagnostic
testing as well as cures for genetic diseases. His other interests include coaching
soccer and softball teams.
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Kris Brocchini, Member, kris.brocchini@sp-foundation.org
Kris has already shown her tremendous talent as a fundraiser by becoming the top
2004 SPF TeamWalk fundraiser. She attended California Polytechnic State University
and has worked in numerous volunteer positions in the past, as well serving on her
local School Board for 13 years. Kris was recently diagnosed with PLS. She has four
children and five grandchildren and lives in Ripon, California.
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Jim Campbell, Member, jimthurza@comcast.net
Jim joined the board in 2009, having been an active member of SPF since 2003. During
that time he has supported his wife Thurza (PLS) in the publication of the SP quarterly
newsletter Synapse both in hardcopy and on a former Website. For several years he
updated and expanded the F. Reyerse on-line database for patients with ALS, PLS
and HSP. More recently he has been a member of the steering committee for SPF research
grants. Having retired in 1999 after a 35 year career at GTE Government Systems in
program management of defense communication systems he continues to be active in
community service in his hometown of Sherborn, MA.
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Jean Chambers, R.N., Member, jean_chambers@sp-foundation.org
Jean is an operating room nurse. She has been the Head Nurse Manager of a private
plastic surgery clinic for the past fifteen years. Jean has served on various committees
of her provincial and national Operating Room Nurses associations. She has organized
several SPF Connections and has attended several, including the 2004 TeamWalk Weekend
in Boston and the Satellite TeamWalk in California. Jean has an R.N. diploma and
is the mother of two sons. She has HSP and lives in West Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada.
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Malin Dollinger, MD, Member, malin.dollinger@sp-foundation.org
Malin joined the SPF Board in 2006. He is a retired physician/cancer specialist,
whose practice was devoted to second opinions. He was educated at Stanford and Yale.
His background also includes business school. He has been involved with many non-profit
organizations, including a term as President of an American Cancer Society branch.
His special interest is in communication to the public, as he is the author of a
best-selling cancer book. He looks forward to assisting the Foundation in public
relations and communication. He emphasizes that there needs to be greater public
knowledge and awareness of HSP and PLS. Additionally, he would like to help affected
persons understand available resources and knowledge. He has HSP and lives in California
with his wife, four children and nine grandchildren.
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Ashton Hecker, Member, ashton@ashtonhecker.com
Ashton is a Broker/Realtor associated with Keller Williams Realty in Houston, Texas. Prior to
starting a real estate career in 2000, Ashton was a healthcare executive with hospitals and
health maintenance organizations (HMO). He has a BS degree in Biology from Lamar University
and a MS degree in Healthcare Management from Trinity University. He is a member of various
professional organizations and a past board member of the Greater Southwest Houston Chamber
of Commerce. His granddaughter has HSP.
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Jim Sheorn, Member jim.sheorn@sp-foundation.org
Jim is a sales representative for Daiichi Sankyo (a pharmaceutical company)
and has over 18 years of experience in customer relations and sales. He was previously
a Field Director for the American Heart Association where his work led to large
increases in fundraising. Jim holds a bachelor's of science degree in marketing
from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has HSP and lives in Brentwood,
Tennessee with his wife and two children. A suggestion for those that have either
HSP or PLS: Find a doctor who has experience treating HSP or PLS so that you can
get the most up to date care.
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Mark Weber, Esq., Member, mark@sp-foundation.org
Mark is a founding board member, co-chaired the Foundation Steering Committee and
completed his first term as SPF President. He is an attorney with eleven years experience
as an Assistant Attorney General and Assistant District Attorney. Mark
has been an active community leader since 1999, launching and managing a PLS email
support group, serving as editor of a PLS newsletter and organizing fundraising
initiatives. The following year, he became active in the HSP online community.
Mark holds a BA in economics and psychology and a JD. He was admitted to the
Massachusetts Bar in December 1986. He was diagnosed with PLS in 1997. Mark
and his wife and two young boys live in Sherman, CT. Mark serves the SPF as
Legal Counsel and also chairs the Research Committee.
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 John K. Fink, M.D.
Dr. Fink is the Director of the Neurogenetic Disorders Clinic at the University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He's also a Professor in the university's Department of
Neurology and is a Physician Scientist at the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical
Center, Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center. His research interests are analysis
of inherited and degenerative disorders of the nervous system (including hereditary
spastic paraplegia, primary lateral sclerosis, inherited movement disorders, schizophrenia)
and regulation of neuronal development.
Dr. Fink received his M.D. from the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo. He did his
residency training in neurology and genetics at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
At the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, he did a post-doctoral
fellowship in the Developmental and Metabolic Neurology and Medical Genetics departments.
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Scientific Advisory Board
The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) reviews grants applications to the SPF. Their
recommendations are given to the Board of Directors, who make appropriations based
on their report. Members of the SAB are distinguished in their knowledge of PLS
and HSP and related research and clinical management.
SAB Chairman
 Martha
A. Nance; Scientific Advisory Board Chairman
Struthers Parkinson's Center, Golden Valley, MN
Dr. Nance received her B.S. from Yale University and her M.D. from the Medical College
of Virginia. She did her residency training in neurology at the St Paul Ramsey Medical
and the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic. At the University of Minnesota,
she did her post-doctoral fellowship in Medical Genetics.
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Craig Blackstone, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief, Cellular Neurology Unit, National Institutes Neurological Disorders and Stroke
(NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD
Robert Bowser, Ph.D.
Director, Center for ALS Research, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine,
Pittsburgh, PA
Merit E. Cudkowicz, M.D.
Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Harvard University
Medical School, Cambridge, MA
James Garbern, MD, PhD
Department of Neurology and the Center for Molecular Medicine & Genetics, Wayne
State University, Detroit, MI
Pedro Gonzalez-Alegre, MD
Department of Neurology. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Iowa City, IA
Mark Gudesblatt, MD
South Shore Neurological Associates, Long Island, NY
Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, MD, PhD
ALS Center, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Evan Reid, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate, Department of Medical Genetics, and Cambridge Institute
for Medical Research (CIMR), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Jacinda Sampson, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Neurology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Michael Swash, M.D. FRCP
Emeritus Professor of Neurology, St. Bartholomew’s and The Royal London, Queen Mary
School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
Susan Perlman, M.D.
Department of Neurology, Director, Ataxia and Neurogenetics Program, UCLA Medical
Center, Los Angeles, CA
Shoji Tsuji, MD, Ph.D.
Professor and Chairman of Department of Neurology, Brain Research Institute,
Niigata University, Professor and Chairman of Department of Neurology, Graduate
School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan
The Spastic Paraplegia Foundation, Inc. is:
- A nonprofit corporation under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
The federal tax identification number is 04-3594491.
- Subject to an annual independent audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted
auditing standards. Audits are conducted by Huber, Ring, Helm & Co - St. Louis,
MO.
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