advisors
SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL ADVISORS
Saima Kayani,md
Scientific & Medical Advisory Member
Dr. Saima Kayani is a Child Neurologist with additional training in Medical Genetics. Her advanced training helps her better understand the clinical and basic molecular mechanisms of neurogenetic diseases.
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Steven Gray,phd
Scientific & Medical Advisory Member
Dr Steven Gray is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. His major focus is in AAV vector development to develop vectors tailored to serve specific clinical and research applications involving the nervous system.
Berge Minassian,md
Scientific & Medical Advisory Member
Dr. Minassian is a pediatric neurologist whose clinical specialties are epilepsy, neurodegenerative diseases, and neurogenetic conditions
Dr. Minassian is the Chief of Child Neurology at UT Southwestern and also leads the Neurosciences Center at Children's Health in Dallas, TX.
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Qinglan ling,phd
Scientific & Medical Advisory Member
Dr. Qinglan Ling is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Steven Gray at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and has been leading preclinical studies to establish an AAV-based gene therapy strategy for SURF1-related Leigh syndrome.
Volkmar Weissig,scd,phd
Scientific & Medical Advisory Member
Dr. Weissig is a Tenured Professor of Pharmacology and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the Midwestern University College of Graduate Studies and Co-director of the Center of Excellence in Translational Cancer Research. He is the President of the World Mitochondria Society.
danielle boyce,mph,dpa(c)
Scientific & Medical Advisory Member
Danielle Boyce is a patient advocate, data scientist, researcher, public speaker, and writer. Her work has appeared in dozens of scientific journals and her children’s book, Charlie’s Teacher, is used in children’s hospitals throughout the country. Danielle’s work in patient advocacy is inspired by her oldest son, Charlie, now 11, who lives with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome.
Alessandro Prigione, md, phd
Scientific & Medical Advisory Member
Prof. Alessandro Prigione is a Professor of Pediatric Metabolic Medicine at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany. He has established Prigione group in order develop induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-based approaches for disease modeling and drug discovery of rare incurable neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders affecting mitochondrial metabolism. A specific focus is on Leigh syndrome, which is the most severe mitochondrial disease affecting children.
Simon johnson, phd
Scientific & Medical Advisory Member
Dr. Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Washington, and a Principal Investigator at Seattle
Children’s Research Institute. Dr Johnson’s research is aimed at defining the cell and molecular mechanisms
involved in the pathogenesis of mitochondrial disorders. Dr Johnson’s laboratory is currently focused on
how the immune system causes disease in Leigh syndrome, and what leads to immune
activation in this disease.
PATIENT REGISTRY ADVISORS
Joana Matos,phd
Patient Registry Advisor
Dr Joana Matos has been working in the biomedical field for more than 15 years and is also volunteering her expertise to help the Rare Disease community.
Kevin w. Freiert,MBA
Patient Registry Advisor
After retiring from Pfizer, Kevin started Salem Oaks, an organization that empowers patients to shape the future of medicine by providing educational programs about Drug Discovery and Development.
Help our kids today
Our Foundation’s effort to find a cure for Leigh syndrome and mitochondrial disease is accomplished by funding the efforts of doctors and researchers who share our passion and relentless drive to fight this devastating disease. 100% of your donations are tax deductible and will go directly to support research. The Cure Mito Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We thank you for your support!