Personnel

  

Administrative Staff
	Shawn H. Eung, B.S., M.B.A.  Program Manager, Boston Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center shawn.eung@bmc.org 617-414-5774 phone 617-414-5739 FAX
	Jaclyn Leahy, B.S. Administrative Assistant to Martin H. Steinberg jaclyn.leahy@bmc.org 617-414-1020 phone 617-414-1021 FAX
Clinical Services
	Lillian C. McMahon, M.D. Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine lillian.mcmahon@bmc.org 617-414-5773
Dr. McMahon is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. She graduated from Faculdade Federal de Medicina e Cirurgia in Brazil and did her internship and one year of medical residency at Carney Hospital in Dorchester, MA, completing a residency in Pediatrics at Boston City Hospital. Dr. McMahon was a fellow in adult and pediatric hematology in the Tufts University Service at Boston City Hospital, and a fellow in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center in New York. Her long time interests are in hemoglobinopathies, in particular sickle cell disease and thalassemia.
	Keona Lemons, N.P. Sickle Cell Center of Excellence, Day Hospital keona.lemons@bmc.org 617-414-3841
Keona Lemons is a Nurse Practitioner, who is in charge of the BMC Patkin Sickle Cell Day Hospital. She has many years experience working with sickle cell disease, specializing in pain management.
Diagnostic Laboratory
	David H.K. Chui, M.D. Director, Hemoglobin Diagnostic Reference Laboratory Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Boston University School of Medicine david.chui@bmc.org 617-414-1018 phone 617-414-1021 FAX
Dr. Chui is Professor of Medicine and Pathology at Boston University School of Medicine.  He graduated from University of Maryland and McGill University Faculty of Medicine (1963), received internal medicine postgraduate training in Montreal and Philadelphia, and hematology fellowship at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.  He was on the faculty of McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, 1970-2002.  He served on the NIH hematology study section, 1987-1991; and was elected to membership of American Society for Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians.  He has had a long-standing interest in developmental biology of erythropoiesis; hemoglobin ontogeny; and molecular genetics, genotype/phenotype correlation, and population health in hemoglobin disorders.
	Hong Yuan Luo, M.B., Ph.D. Assistant Director, Hemoglobin Diagnostic Reference Laboratory Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine hong.yuanluo@bmc.org 617-414-1024
Dr. Luo received her medical education in Guangzhou, China, and her Ph.D. degree in Medical Sciences from the McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada in 1993. Subsequently, she held appointments at the Children’s Hospital in UT Galveston, TX, and also at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She joined Boston University in February 2003. Dr. Luo has been interested in hemoglobin ontogeny and regulation, and has published meritorious work on these subject matters. She has generated monoclonal antibodies against human embryonic hemoglobins that can serve as useful reagents in clinical diagnostics.
	Lance Davis, M.D. Laboratory Manager, Hemoglobin Diagnostic Reference Laboratory Boston University School of Medicine Boston Medical Center 617-414-1024 phone 617-414-1021 FAX
Research
	Martin Steinberg, M.D. Director, Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine mhsteinb@bu.edu 617-414-1020
Dr. Steinberg is Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and the Director of the Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease at Boston Medical Center. He graduated from Cornell University and received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Steinberg was an intern in Internal Medicine at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City and completed his residency training at the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston where he also was a fellow in Hematology. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and is also a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine in the subspecialty of Hematology. Dr. Steinberg has had long-term clinical interest in disorders of red blood cell with a special focus on inherited disorders of hemoglobin and sickle cell disease. His research encompasses the structure, function and synthesis of abnormal hemoglobins, how other genes influence the phenotype of sickle cell disease and clinical trials of innovative treatments for sickle cell disease.
	Clinton Baldwin, Ph.D. Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine Boston Univ. School of Medicine cbaldwin@bu.edu 617-638-7086
Dr. Baldwin is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Boston University and the director of the Research Division at the Center for Human Genetics. A molecular biologist by training, Dr. Baldwin has worked for many years defining the genetic basis of different complex diseases including Alzheimer Disease and hypertension. Within the past five years, he has studied genetic variation in sickle cell disease and thalassemia applying state-of-the-art methods of genotyping genetic polymorphisms.
	Daniel Dworkis,  M.D.-Ph.D. candidate Boston University School of Medicine ddworkis@bu.edu
Dan is an MD-PhD student at Boston University in the School of Medicine and the Department of Molecular Medicine, and holds a ScB degree in biophysics from Brown University in Providence, RI. His current projects include genome-wide studies of the genetic modifiers of sickle cell disease.
	Lindsay A. Farrer, Ph.D. Chief, Genetics Program Boston University School of Medicine farrer@bu.edu 617-638-5393
Dr. Lindsay Farrer is Chief of the Genetics Program, Director of the Genetic Epidemiology Center, and a Professor of Medicine at Boston University Schools of Medicine. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, received his Ph.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine and gained additional training in genetic epidemiology at Yale University. Dr. Farrer’s research has lead to more than 150 publications on genetic risk factors for several familial neurodegenerative and other chronic diseases. In collaboration with other laboratories worldwide, his group has localized genes causing a variety of rare and common disorders including Alzheimer disease (AD), Wilson disease, Machado-Joseph disease, Waardenburg syndrome, hypertension, sensorineural deafness, and osteoarthritis. Dr. Farrer’s team is developing genetic mapping methods for locating genetic modifiers for disorders whose primary defects are already known, but account for only a small portion of the phenotypic variation.
	Karla P. Fuentes, M.D. Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Boston University School of Medicine
Dr. Fuentes received her medical degree from the National Autonomous University School of Medicine in Managua, Nicaragua. She completed a master’s degree in science at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Dr. Fuentes completed her residency training in Pediatrics at the University of Nebraska-Creighton University Joint Pediatric Residency Program, and her fellowship training in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Rhode Island Hospital-Brown University in Providence. Dr. Fuentes has demonstrated special interest in children with sickle cell disease.
	Elizabeth Klings, M.D. Pulmonary Department, Boston University School of Medicine Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine klingon@bu.edu 617-638-4860
Dr. Klings is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Pulmonary Center at Boston University School of Medicine. After graduating from New York University’s College of Arts and Sciences and School of Medicine, Dr. Klings completed residency training in Internal Medicine at Boston City Hospital and fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care at Boston University School of Medicine. Her clinical and research interests encompass the pathophysiology and treatment of pulmonary vascular disease. Currently, she is evaluating the role of altered oxidative stress in the endothelial dysfunction observed in the acute chest syndrome of sickle cell disease.
	Jane A. Leopold, M.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Associate Editor, Circulation jleopold@partners.org 617-525-4846
Dr. Leopold is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Leopold received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. She did her cardiology and interventional cardiology fellowship training at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Leopold has a longstanding interest in vascular endothelial cell biology with a focus on the role of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase as a mediator of cellular oxidant stress. Dr. Leopold’s research encompasses the effects of cellular redox state on endothelial cell functionalities, bioavailability of nitric oxide, oxidative post-translational modifications of proteins, and vascular reactivity. Her research program also explores the mechanisms by which mediators of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase expression influence vascular endothelial function in sickle cell disease.
	Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Ph.D. Physician-in-Chief and Chairman, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, Harvard Medical School jloscalzo@partners.org 617-525-4833
	Anita Malek, M.D. Research Associate, Boston University School of Medicine malek@bu.edu 617-414-1118 phone
	Efthymia Melista Research Technician, Boston University School of Medicine Molecular Medicine/Genetics emelista@bu.edu 617-638-7026
	Jacqueline Milton Graduate Student, Biostatistics jnmilton@bu.edu
	Duyen Ngo, M.D. Hematology/Oncology Fellow, Boston Medical Center duyen.ngo@bmc.org   617-638-2385
Dr. Ngo graduated from Harvard University and received her medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School. She completed her internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and fellowship in hematology and oncology at Boston Medical Center. Her research as a Sickle Cell Scholar will focus on understanding genetic determinants of hemoglobin F levels and other modifiers of clinical phenotype in patients with sickle cell disease.
	Susan Perrine, M.D. Cancer Center, Boston University Medical Center Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Boston Univ. School of Medicine sperrine@bu.edu 617-638-5639
Dr. Perrine is Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and Director of the Hemoglobinopathy-Thalassemia Research Unit at Boston University School of Medicine. She received a BA from Mills College, Masters degrees from Harvard School of Public Health and Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, and her M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine. She completed her Pediatric Residency training at Tufts-New England Medical Center and a Hematology-Oncology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital, Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School. She is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. Dr. Perrine’s research has focused on investigation of methods to reactivate the fetal hemoglobin gene, using agents that are safe for life-long use beginning in childhood, for the amelioration of sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia. She directs a basic science laboratory and clinical trials in these disorders and viral-associated malignancies.
	Asif Qureshi, M.D. Clinical Trials Manager, Boston Medical Center asif.qureshi@bmc.org or aqureshi@bu.edu 617-414-5729 phone 617-414-5739 FAX
Asif Qureshi has earned his M.D. degree from King Edward Medical University, Lahore-Pakistan and completed his residency in Mayo Hospital. He also holds his MBA from Pak Lawrence University and currently perusing his MS program in pain research from Tufts University School of Medicine. He is involved in directing, planning, and executing phase I-III clinical trials and data collection activities. His interests are in grant management and clinical trials sponsored by both NIH and industry.
	Surinder Safaya, Ph.D. Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine ssafaya@bu.edu 617-414-1020
Dr. Safaya is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Poona University, India and had post doctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. His research interests include molecular defects of hemoglobinopathies, regulation of globin gene expression and differential gene expression in disease.
	Eugene Shcerba Research Data Analyst Laboratory for Biocomputing and Informatics, Boston University 24 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02115 escherba@bu.edu 617-358-2965
Eugene Scherba’s work is concentrated on high-throughput DNA sequencing, especially Roche/454 and Illumina/Solexa platforms. After graduating from Boston University with a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, he was exposed to a clinical diagnostics lab at the Center for Human Genetics at BU School of Medicine, then moved on to research work at BU Laboratory for Biocomputing and Informatics (LBI) which began to focus on computer science aspects of high-throughput DNA sequencing. There he contributed to the creation of a software program for comparison of sets of short DNA sequences and applied it to oligonucleotide synthesis validation using Illumina/Solexa high-throughput sequencing data. His current interests include pattern matching algorithms, scalable programming, and visualization of biological data sets. He joined the Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease through collaboration between the Center and LBI.
	Paola Sebastiani, Ph.D. Professor of Biostatistics Boston University School of Public Health sebas@bu.edu 617-638-5172
Dr. Sebastiani joined the Department of Biostatistics in 2003 as an Associate Professor, after holding faculty positions in Italy, England and United States. She is the author of over 70 peer-reviewed publications in theoretical and methodological statistics, artificial intelligence and computational biology. She is a member of the editorial board of the Machine Learning journal and Evaluation of Intelligent Systems. She is also a regular reviewer for major journals in statistics and computer science, and serves on the program committee of several international conferences at the interface between statistics and artificial intelligence. Paola’s research interests focus primarily on the development of Bayesian methods and their application to a wide spectrum of problems, ranging from cognitive robotics to bioinformatics, from biosurveillance to knowledge discovery. She is particularly interested in the development of automated analytical methods and many of her methodological contributions have been implemented in computer programs, such as Bayesware Discoverer: the first publicly available program for the automated discovery of Bayesian networks from incomplete databases, and Caged, a program for Bayesian model-based clustering of gene expression profiles measured in temporal experiments. Paola is founder of Bayesware LLC, a software company developing and commercializing knowledge discovery programs based Bayesian methods.
	Nadia Solovieff Graduate Student, Biostatistics ntimofee@bu.edu
	Philippa G. Sprinz, M.D. Chief, Pediatric Hematology Boston Medical Center PhilippaMD.Sprinz@bhs.org   617-414-5562
Philippa G. Sprinz, M.D, attended Aberdeen University Medical School, Scotland and following 2 years of medical training in Great Britain, completed a residency in Pediatrics at University of Miami School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami. Following her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Jackson Memorial Hospital, she was Medical Director, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital at Memorial, Hollywood, Florida and most recently, Director, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Baystate Medical Center. She has recently joined the staff at Boston Medical Center as the Chief of Pediatric Hematology.
	Madeleine Verhovsek, M.D. Hematology Fellow, Boston Medical Center madeleine.verhovsek@bmc.org 617-414-5726 phone 617-414-5739 FAX
Dr. Verhovsek is a Hematology fellow from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada who is pursing additional training in hemoglobinopathies at BMC. She graduated from McMaster Medical school in 2004 and completed training in Internal Medicine in 2007. She became certified in Internal Medicine by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 2008. Dr. Verhovsek has an interest in the care of immigrant populations and people from underprivileged backgrounds, and first became interested in sickle cell disease during an elective in Uganda as a medical resident.
updated 10.29.09