FOCUSED ULTRASOUND FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Allison Preston-Smith joined the Foundation in 2023. She works alongside reporters to share important updates, emerging research, and patient stories from the Foundation and its partners. Her career started in the journalism field where she worked as a reporter and anchor for news stations in Michigan and Indiana before transitioning to the nonprofit field, where she focuses on communications and public relations. She has worked for the University of Notre Dame and several other national and international nonprofits, securing media opportunities with the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, National Geographic, and more. Allison graduated from DePaul University with a BA in Journalism and received her Master's in Nonprofit Administration from the University of Notre Dame.
Amy Rolph, MBA, joined the Foundation in May 2023 as the Social Media Specialist. Previously, Amy worked in freelance brand marketing through her website and corresponding social media accounts. She has also held operations management positions in a variety of corporate franchise groups and small businesses. Amy earned a BA in Environmental Studies from Wilson College and an MBA from the Mason School of Business at William & Mary.
Job Titles:
- Chief Relationship Officer
Ann Taylor joined the Foundation in the role of Chief Relationship Officer and works to establish and maintain high-level relationships that increase the impact of focused ultrasound technology. Ann has more than 27 years of nonprofit leadership experience as Executive Vice President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Monticello) and Executive Director of the Darden School Foundation at the University of Virginia. Prior to joining Darden, she co-founded an award-winning multichannel marketing company dedicated to helping the 50+ population meet their vision, mobility, dexterity, and hearing needs. Ann has served on the boards of the Darden School and University of Virginia Alumni Association as well as several community organizations. She completed her undergraduate degree in Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia and earned her MBA from the Darden School of Business, where she was a Shermet Scholar.
As a veterinarian scientist, Dr. Ranjan studies how focused ultrasound can noninvasively treat cancer and non-healing wounds in dogs and cats.
Dr. Robertson is a urologic oncologist and Associate Professor, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery , Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He received his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine and was a Urologic Oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Guha is the Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Einstein) and Montefiore Medical Center and Professor of Pathology, Urology, and Radiation Oncology at Einstein. His research work is in the fields of immunology, radiation oncology, and liver diseases, and has been focused on immunotherapeutic approaches for cancer therapy and the use of regenerative strategies to repopulate injured tissue by use of stem cell-based technologies. He is also involved in treating prostate and liver cancers and is an investigator in several worldwide clinical trials.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
The entire career of Mr. Charles W. "Wick" Moorman, IV, has been in the railway industry, first at the Southern Railway Company, and later at Norfolk Southern, where he rose through the ranks from various vice president positions to ultimately become chairman and CEO. After a brief retirement from Norfolk Southern, he accepted the post of interim CEO at Amtrak with the goal of leading the organization through a transition, focusing on improving operations, streamlining the organizational structure, and leading the search for his successor as CEO. In December 2017, Mr. Moorman officially stepped down from his leadership position at Amtrak, moving into the role of senior advisor. He serves on the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation, Duke Energy Corporation, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Oracle Corporation, and The Nature Conservancy of Virginia. Mr. Moorman is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Smithsonian National Board. He earned his undergraduate degree in engineering from Georgia Tech and received an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Research Contract Specialist Open Science Manager
Charlie Manning joined the Foundation as an Intern in June 2020 and assumed an Associate position in January 2021. He works with Emily White on developing the Focused Ultrasound Foundation's Open Science initiative and performs analysis on the Foundation's research-funding pipeline. Charlie graduated from the College of William and Mary in May 2020 with a major in Classical Studies.
Job Titles:
- Scientific Programs Director
Job Titles:
- Commercial Initiatives and Strategy Director
Cindy Clark joined the team in 2023, working with the FUS Partners team as Commercial Initiatives and Strategy Director. She is a serial entrepreneur with more than 25 years of successful commercialization experience in the life science industry. She has held executive management positions for early-stage companies including Sirga Advanced Biopharma, NanIO Biosciences, Phase Bioscience, and Erimos Pharmaceuticals, as well as public companies including TSO3, CV Therapeutics, and Univax Biologics. She was also the president of ibiliti, the non-profit Center of Innovation for Medical Technology in North Carolina. She has been responsible for the launch of dozens of drugs, devices, diagnostics, and life science services, license and collaboration transactions valued at more than $350 million, and five successful exits. Cindy holds a JD from Washington College of Law and a BA with honors in government and mathematics from Wesleyan University.
Radiologist Clare Tempany, MD, has been a Vice Chair for Research at since 2007. She manages the National Center for Image Guided Therapy at Brigham & Women's Hospital, a Focused Ultrasound Foundation Center of Excellence. Dr. Tempany has been instrumental in the clinical trials that led to FDA approval of Insightec's focused ultrasound system for fibroids and bone metastases. After being involved in the early proof of concept, she is now looking to conduct clinical studies for treating prostate disease.
Professor Coussios is the Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Statutory Chair of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oxford. On the heels of his seminal publication in the Lancet Oncology, we asked Professor Coussios to tell us more about how he became interested in focused ultrasound, his current projects, and his plans for the future.
University of Maryland In recognition of their leadership in advancing focused ultrasound research for the brain, the Foundation is pleased to designate the University of Maryland as a Center of Excellence.The Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Howard Eisenberg, MD, and Chair of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Elias Melhem, MD, are managing a comprehensive bench-to-bedside program expanding the technology's neurosurgical capabilities as well as innovating new methods for delivering therapies to the brain. Read the research site profile from September 2016.
Cyril Lafon, PhD, joins the Foundation as the 2016-2017 Richard Merkin Visiting Fellow. Dr. Lafon is the Director of LabTAU, a research laboratory of INSERM - the French National Institutes of Health - located in Lyon. Dr. Lafon co-founded Carthera, the maker of the Sonocloud implanted pulsed focused ultrasound device that opens the blood-brain barrier. He sits on the board of the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU), is Vice President of the French Society of Biomedical Engineering (SFGBM), and is Associate Editor for the Journal of Therapeutic Ultrasound.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Engineer, Brain Technical Program
David Moore joined the Foundation in 2006 and currently serves on the Foundation's Brain Program team, conducting and facilitating research with external sites on focused ultrasound projects dedicated to solving brain disorders. He received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado and his M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia and has worked in both industry and academia on medical software and biomedical research.
Job Titles:
- Salesforce Platforms Director
Deb Heishman joined the Foundation in April 2018 as the Business Systems Analyst and Salesforce administrator and became Director of Salesforce Platforms in February 2019. A Salesforce consultant since 2011 and a data analyst since 2001, Deb works to ensure the Foundation's CRM and data tools, including Pardot, Experience/Community site, and clinical trials management platforms are supporting staff operations at the highest functionality. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Virginia and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte.
Dr. Craig Slingluff's current clinical trial at the University of Virginia is studying the effects of focused ultrasound and immunotherapy to treat advanced solid tumors.
University of Queensland's Queensland Brain Institute | Jürgen Götz, PhD In January 2019, the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia) announced that $10 million of its latest capital campaign would be directed to its Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) to support the work of Dr. Jürgen Götz and his team of researchers at the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CJCADR). As QBI completes the necessary steps toward initiating their first focused ultrasound-based phase 1 clinical safety trial for patients with Alzheimer's disease, we interviewed Dr. Götz to learn more about CJCADR and their progress. Read the site profile from January 2019.
Dr. Dheeraj Gandhi has been involved in all aspects of clinical focused ultrasound work at the University of Maryland, with a specific focus on facilitating direct image-based targeting of brain structures using advanced MR techniques. He has been involved in more than 65 focused ultrasound procedures and is now Principal Investigator for a new clinical trial that uses focused ultrasound to treat neuropathic pain. We recently interviewed Dr. Gandhi to learn more about his new study, his career, and his work.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall is a pioneer in medicine, having spent more than 40 years on the frontlines of healthcare as a clinician, researcher, and leader in the biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Most recently, at Pfizer, Inc, she served more than ten years on the executive leadership team as executive vice president, chief medical officer, and later chief patient officer. Her tenure at Pfizer was devoted to ensuring the safe, effective, and appropriate use of medicines and vaccines produced by the pharmaceutical giant, from the first clinical trial to its last use. Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Lewis-Hall held senior leadership roles at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmacia Corporation, and Eli Lilly and Company. She has also held positions in the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Psychiatry at her alma mater Howard University College of Medicine and recently completed a decade of service on the inaugural Board of Governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Dr. Lewis-Hall serves on the Boards of the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health, The Milken Institute's FasterCures Center, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative, and the Dalio Center for Health Justice at NewYork-Presbyterian. She also serves on the corporate boards of Milliken and Company, a global diversified industrial manufacturer; 1Life Healthcare, Inc., a health services company; Exact Sciences, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company; and SpringWorks Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company. She is a member of the Board of Fellows of The Harvard Medical School, and the Board of Advisors of the Dell Medical School.
Job Titles:
- Head of Surgical Oncology at Barcelona University Hospital
Dr. Joan Vidal-Jove is the Head of Surgical Oncology at Barcelona University Hospital and is currently studying focused ultrasound for pancreatic cancer. His early research indicates that FUS with chemotherapy may have the ability to extend survival of patients with unresectable tumors.
Dr. Meaghan O'Reilly is an integral part of Sunnybrook Research Institute's dynamic Focused Ultrasound Research group. She has gained national attention for her research developing focused ultrasound-based therapies for brain and spinal cord disorders. Her goal is to use the technology to treat conditions that affect the entire central nervous system.
Dr. Sandra Black is a world-renowned neurologist who is investigating Alzheimer's and dementia treatment from multiple angles. She is an expert on the relationship between the brain's microvasculature and dementia. In this profile, Dr. Black explains why some neurologists are hesitant about opening the blood-brain barrier.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech
- Read His Investigator Profile from December 2020
University Medical Center Utrecht This comprehensive and dynamic site truly exemplifies the Foundation's Centers of Excellence programmatic goal to serve as a hub for collaboration while bringing together academia, industry, and the Foundation to showcase focused ultrasound technology. Read the research site profile from January 2021.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology at Columbia University
Dr. Konofagou is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology at Columbia University and head of the Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging Laboratory (UEIL) there. Breaking through barriers, she is exploring alternative imaging techniques for focused ultrasound procedures, investigating neurological and cancer applications in preclinical studies, and working with her team to build medical devices in-house to meet their research needs.
Job Titles:
- Strategic Initiatives Director
Emily C Whipple, PhD, MBA, joined the Foundation as Director of Strategic Initiatives in 2018. She has over thirteen years of operations, project management, and customer relationship experience in an entrepreneurial environment from early stage venture funding through acquisition. Prior to joining the Foundation, Emily served as the Vice President of Business Development and Operations for AMPEL BioSolutions. At the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, she works to help develop and implement projects and programs that support the mission of the Foundation to promote the advancement and adoption of focused ultrasound. She holds a BS degree in Molecular Biology from Cornell University as well as an MS and PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Genetics from the University of Virginia. She also holds an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Operations and FUS Partners
Emily White, MD, joined the Foundation in 2016 as Director of Operations. In 2018, Emily expanded her role to include Managing Director of FUS Partners, the Foundation's efforts to help the focused ultrasound industry's commercialization efforts and expand their access to the MedTech capital markets as well as the Foundation's own venture philanthropy efforts.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. White was a private consultant working in operations and business development support in the healthcare and medical start-up space. Her clients have included everything from a 4,000+ employee, publicly traded, health care company to a brand new start-up with two employees. Her background includes training in general surgery, leadership positions in several highly technical start-up companies with federal clients, non-profit executive management and over 25 years of grant writing experience. She completed her undergraduate degree in Biology & Anthropology at Smith College and holds certification for Community Conflict Resolution from Loyola Law School. She is also a University of Virginia School of Medicine graduate.
David Cranston, MB. ChB., MA, D.Phil, FRCS Eng, FRCS Ed, is the clinical director of the high-intensity focused ultrasound unit at the University of Oxford. He has worked in focused ultrasound for more than 20 years and was integral to securing the first Chinese focused ultrasound device in the Western world. He has since researched the technology's potential to treat many tumors, including uterine fibroids and cancers of the kidney, liver, pancreas, and sarcomas.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Dr. Moll is a pre-eminent leader in the development and commercialization of innovative medical devices. His start-up ventures have included Intuitive Surgical, Inc., manufacturer of the highly successful da Vinci Surgical System, Restoration Robotics, Inc., dedicated to transforming the field of robotic hair restoration and Hansen Medical. He also started Origin Medsystems, Inc., a laparoscopic instruments and devices company, and Endotherapeutics Corporation, manufacturer of the safety trocar, which Dr. Moll invented while training as a surgeon. In 2011, he founded Auris Health, Inc., a medical robotics company, and sold it to Johnson & Johnson in 2019. He is currently serving as the Chief Development Officer of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies.
Dr. Moll received his MD from the University of Washington and trained in surgery at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. He also earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's degree in management from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He is a distinguished and prolific medical device entrepreneur and a surgical robotics visionary.
Job Titles:
- Research Director for Applied Physics
In June 2019, Frédéric Padilla, PhD, was appointed Director of Applied Physics Research at the Foundation. Prior to his he was the Richard Merkin Visiting Fellow at the Foundation from 2017 to 2019. He is a visiting Professor at the University of Virginia's Department of Radiology, and is affiliated with the Laboratory of Therapeutic Applications of Ultrasound (LabTAU) in Lyon, France, a Focused Ultrasound Foundation Centre of Excellence. In the past, Frédéric has been a Fulbright Fellow at Boston University, and a visiting Professor at the University of Michigan.
He currently oversees and conducts the Foundation's projects on applied physics and preclinical research. His research at the Foundation focuses on developing strategies to harness the power of focused ultrasound to enhance the response to immunotherapies, in breast and pancreatic cancers; on promoting brain tumor response to radiosurgery with focused ultrasound; and working closely with the technical team, on the enhancement of focused ultrasound treatment envelope for brain applications.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Known as one of the world's leading experts and practitioners in HIFU, Dr. Suarez has performed over 2,000 HIFU procedures and has personally trained more than 400 doctors in this life-changing technology. Dr. Suarez is a Board certified urologist who practices in Miami, Florida, and is a former faculty member of the University of Miami department of Urology.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
Dr. Woodworth is Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Director of its Brain Tumor Treatment & Research Center. He is researching the use of focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier to provide treatment options for patient with brain tumors (both glioma and metastatic) and other brain diseases.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of Urology at Imperial College London
Professor Hashim Ahmed is Chair of Urology at Imperial College London (ICL). He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate diseases, such as cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
The Chen Ultrasound Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri (WUSTL) is the epicenter of focused ultrasound research that is conducted across at least eight different academic departments within the University. We interviewed Dr. Chen to learn more about the projects and people at this dynamic center.
Buzaev Clinic | Ufa, Russia The Buzaev Clinic is the first focused ultrasound center in Russia offering commercial treatments to patients with essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, and cervical dystonia. We recently spoke with Igor Buzaev, CDBO, an interventional radiologist and one of the site's founders to learn about how they are pioneering this noninvasive technology in Russia. Read their commerical treatment site profile from January 2022.
For more than a decade, Howard Eisenberg, MD, has been a cornerstone of the focused ultrasound program at the University of Maryland (UMD). As the Raymond K. Thompson, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery, he primarily uses focused ultrasound to treat movement disorders - like essential tremor and Parkinson's disease - and pain.
Job Titles:
- Senior Scientist and Director of the Brain Repair Group at Sunnybrook Research Institute
Isabelle Aubert, PhD, Senior Scientist and Director of the Brain Repair Group at Sunnybrook Research Institute, studies the neurobiology of focused ultrasound to help patients with Alzheimer's, ALS, and Parkinson's.
Isha Bhatia joined the Foundation in August 2022 as a Science Associate. She joins the research and education team and will focus on education and awareness initiatives. She recently graduated from the University of Virginia (UVA) with a degree in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Business. In her final year of undergraduate studies, Isha worked on a project through UVA that involved designing a novel head frame for focused ultrasound applications. Isha also completed an internship with the Foundation in the summer of 2021. She worked with Lauren Powlovich, MD, to create a landscape analysis about sonodynamic therapy.
Job Titles:
- FUS Partners Advisor
- Partners Advisor
James Franco joined the Foundation in January 2020 as a member of FUS Partners, a program created to accelerate the commercial adoption of focused ultrasound as a mainstream standard of care. Given his family's medical history coupled with focused ultrasound's therapeutic potential, James has a personal connection to the Foundation's mission and a drive to directly contribute to the realization of the organization's vision. Prior to working at the Foundation, James practiced corporate law where he represented clients in commercial transactions and venture financings. Before that, he worked in the public investing markets at a Boston-based institutional investor. James received his BS from Trinity College and his MBA/JD from the University of Virginia. James is a CFA charterholder and a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Janet joined the Foundation September, 2017. As a member of the finance team, she provides accounting, payroll, and benefits administration support to the Foundation. Janet has a depth of experience in full-cycle accounting and office management for small business as well as corporate support roles.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Finance and Administration
Jessica Foley, PhD joined the Foundation in 2012 after a more than 11-year career in the field of focused ultrasound that spanned academic, industrial and government worlds. Dr. Foley guides the strategy, development, and implementation of the scientific and research programs and activities within the Foundation and aligns these with communications and development efforts. She also leads alliance-building efforts with external stakeholders including (but not limited to) governmental policymakers, regulatory agencies, and disease-specific foundations whose interests are complementary to those of the Foundation. She is a representative and advocate for the Foundation and the focused ultrasound community among a wide variety of stakeholders. Her experience prior to the Foundation included several years with Insightec as the Neuro Projects Manager and Clinical Marketing Manager; Senior Scientist at Medtronic; and serving as a 2011-2012 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation. She holds a BSE in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and a PhD in Bioengineering (emphasis in focused ultrasound) from the University of Washington. Dr. Foley has numerous publications, patents, and presentations at academic conferences in the field of focused ultrasound.
Jessica Lukens, MBA, joined the Foundation in 2017 and works to steward relationships with existing donors and introduce new supporters to the Foundation's mission. She also leads the Foundation's Asia Program. Jessica gained valuable healthcare development and communications experience through roles with ALSAC/St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and UVA Health. She received a BA from the University of Richmond and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Joe Kilroy, PhD, joined the Foundation in January 2024 as Research Program Manager. He supports the Foundation's mission to accelerate the development of focused ultrasound by managing the research pipeline, facilitating grant management, engaging the scientific community, building robust relationships amongst focused ultrasound stakeholders, and managing a selection of funded projects. Prior to joining the Foundation, Joe was a cofounder and CEO of SoundPipe Therapeutics, a medical device company developing an ultrasonic drug delivery catheter to treat cardiovascular disease. Joe is passionate about driving better patient care through the effective and thorough translation of new technologies into clinical adoption.
Joe Rice joined the Foundation in January 2022 and helps develop and maintain comprehensive media production capabilities for the Foundation and assist with video creation, photography, graphic design, digital marketing, and media outreach. Joe previously served as Deputy Director of Communications for the City of Charlottesville. During his tenure with the city, he cultivated integral relationships with local, regional, and national media; established the city's Community Media Center; launched its first social media platform; implemented a digital broadcasting and streaming network; served on the city's Incident Management Team; and directed Charlottesville's Grand Illumination. Joe also worked as Assistant Creative Director and Photographer for Charlottesville's Newsplex and Program Editor for the Discovery Channel.
Job Titles:
- IT Systems Administration
John Burns, SSCP, joined the Foundation in 2017 as IT Specialist and now acts as Systems Administrator. He works to ensure that critical systems are running smoothly and to provide technical support and education to Foundation staff. He completed his BA in Hospitality Management and post graduate certificate in Information Technology from George Mason University. He possesses Network+ and Security+ Certifications from CompTIA.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Surgery
Dr. Ward is Associate Professor of Surgery, Department of Urology, at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. He received his BS in Biology at the University of Notre Dame and his MD at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Postgraduate training includes a clinical residency in urology at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, CA, and a clinical fellowship in urologic-oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
Mr. Grisham is an internationally acclaimed author of nearly fifty consecutive No. 1 bestsellers. Nine of his books have been made into successful motion pictures. Mr. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction. Prior to his career as a writer, he practiced law for nearly 10 years, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1984 until 1990. Mr. Grisham serves on the Board of Directors for the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. He was closely involved with establishing the "Rebuild the Coast" Fund for Gulf Coast relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Grisham received his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and his JD from the University of Mississippi School of Law.
From John Grisham, comes a story where today's medical fiction could become tomorrow's lifesaving reality.
Jordan Knupp joined the Foundation in March 2020 as a Web Developer. As a member of the Foundation's IT Team, Jordan works to enhance the web presence of the Foundation and create improvements to internal systems and software. Previously, he worked for Abbott Laboratories as an Interface Analyst, where he helped hospitals across the country to install and customize EMR software. He attended Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, majoring in Computer Science.
Job Titles:
- Chief of the Frank Laboratory
Joseph Frank, Chief of the Frank Laboratory in Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently visited the Foundation to present a webinar about his team's work using focused ultrasound to boost stem cell homing.
Neurologist Prof. José Obeso has built a large research and clinical practice centered on using focused ultrasound to halt the progression of Parkinson's and other brain diseases.
Dr. Hanes is the Lewis J. Ort Professor of Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Director of the Center for Nanomedicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute at JHU. He works to harness the power of nanotechnology to deliver drugs more efficiently to targeted regions of the body, like the blood-brain barrier.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Communications
Justine Atkinson joined the Foundation in June 2013. As a member of the Communications team, she is responsible for various writing, media, and external communications projects. Previously, Justine worked for 15 years at the Washington, DC, public relations agency Ketchum, where she was a Vice President and Group Manager for their Healthcare practice, managing multi-million dollar accounts for various pharmaceutical and women's health clients. She graduated with distinction from James Madison University with a double major in English and Human Communication.
University of Queensland Professor Jürgen Götz, PhD, is also the Director of the Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research. He is driven to understand the way that Alzheimer's disease cripples the brain and then design an affordable treatment. His ideas to combine focused ultrasound, immunology, and medications are leading to big discoveries.
Katherine W. Ferrara, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at UC Davis and the Director of their Center for Content Rich Evaluation of Therapeutic Efficacy. She also serves on the Foundation's Research Advisory Committee and has contributed as faculty during our biennial Symposium.
Job Titles:
- Veterinary Medicine Program Director
- Veterinary Medicine Program Director Scientific Programs Manager
Kelsie Timbie, PhD joined the Foundation in 2015. As the Scientific Programs Manager, she is responsible for developing and guiding research projects that address critical unmet needs and will further the Foundation's mission of widespread clinical adoption of this technology. As the Director of the Veterinary Program, she is responsible for guiding and developing the scope of the program. She is also involved in managing the research portfolios of the Cancer Immunotherapy and Brain Programs here at the Foundation, as her extensive research experience in brain and cancer applications for focused ultrasound provides her with particular insight in these areas. Kelsie earned her BS in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University and her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia.
Job Titles:
- Cfo
- Chief Financial Officer
Job Titles:
- Development Information Specialist
Laura Breeden previously worked at the Foundation in 2007, as Administrative Associate. She returned in May 2017 as Information Development Specialist, working to support fundraising and stewardship initiatives. Laura graduated from Mary Baldwin University with a Bachelor of Arts in Health Care Administration.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Chief Medical Officer
Job Titles:
- Business Services Director
As the lead clinician at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine who is performing focused ultrasound treatments, Matthew Bucknor, MD, has used the technology to perform more than 30 procedures on 20 patients. Combining his focused ultrasound expertise with his sub-specialization in musculoskeletal radiology, he has recently initiated a new clinical trial comparing focused ultrasound to CT-guided radiofrequency ablation for treatment of specific bone tumors.
Job Titles:
- Email Marketing Specialist
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Co - Founder
- Member of the Board of Directors
Mr. Milken is Chairman of the Milken Institute and co-founder of the Milken Family Foundation. Widely recognized for his half-century of leadership in medical research and public health-Fortune magazine called him "The Man Who Changed Medicine"-he is currently focused on global efforts to speed solutions for the Covid-19 crisis.
Michael Temple, MD, is a Canadian interventional radiologist who has done groundbreaking work using the technology to treat pediatric patients. Learn more about his focused ultrasound work and plans for the future.
Job Titles:
- Development Information Specialist
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Vice Chairman of the International Law Firm Cooley LLP
Mr. Lincoln is Vice Chairman of the international law firm Cooley LLP and the former head of the business department at the firm. His practice focuses on emerging growth companies and venture capital. In his current role, Mr. Lincoln helps to oversee the firm's strategic direction. In 1999, Mr. Lincoln co-founded Cooley's first East Coast office, and today the firm boasts 17 offices across the US, Asia, and Europe. Mr. Lincoln is also an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, teaching a course on emerging growth companies and venture capital. He serves or has served on numerous boards including Mindshare, the Shenandoah National Park Foundation, the Federal City Council, the Medical Care for Children Partnership Foundation, the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, and the University of Virginia School of Law Alumni Council. Mr. Lincoln attended Southeast Missouri State University, where he studied Business Administration, and earned his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Dr. Shapiro's work combines the physical interactions of ultrasound with synthetic biology - the field of science that redesigns organisms for useful purposes. At Caltech, he leads a 28-person research laboratory dedicated to ultrasound imaging and focused ultrasound.
Mishal Mendiratta-Lala, MD, is an abdominal and cross-sectional interventional radiologist at the University of Michigan who led the US liver tumor histotripsy clinical trial (#HOPE4LIVER).
Nathan McDannold, PhD, has put tremendous effort into the brain applications of focused ultrasound and worked with Kullervo Hynynen to become one of the first to open the blood-brain barrier. His work in drug delivery and neurodegenerative diseases is sure to change the way that medicine is practiced. A medical physicist, he has been a participant in the care of every focused ultrasound patient treated at Brigham & Women's Hospital since 1996.
Dr. Kassell is the founder and chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and former Co-Chair of Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia. He has published more than 500 scientific papers and book chapters, and his research has been supported by over $30 million in NIH and industry grants and contracts. A member of numerous medical societies in the United States and abroad, he has served on many standing and ad hoc committees of the National Institutes of Health and in an editorial capacity for a variety of academic journals. In April 2016, he was named to the Blue Ribbon Panel of Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Initiative. Dr. Kassell is a founder of numerous private ventures including Interax, Inc.; the Virginia Neurological Institute; Multimedia Medical Systems, Inc.; the Neuroclinical Trials Center; the NeuroVenture Fund; and MedSpecialists.net. He has served on a number of corporate and not-for-profit boards, including Eclypsis Corporation; INC Research; the Prostate Cancer Foundation; InSightec, Ltd.; the Expedition Trust Company; Tuesday Evening Concert Series and Virginia National Bank, and is currently a director of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. He is a shareholder in Insightec, Ltd., where he also served on the board until 2012. Dr. Kassell received his undergraduate and medical education at the University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation
Dr. Lipsman is the Director of the Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation and the Focused Ultrasound Centre of Excellence at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He is leading the clinical trial investigating focused ultrasound to deliver antibodies to patients with metastatic breast cancer. This is an update of his original profile from May 2017.
An early adopter of focused ultrasound, neurosurgeon Nir Lipsman, MD, PhD is looking to bring non-invasive solutions to patients as quickly and as safely as possible. He intends to lead the way by collaborating with experts in neurodegenerative disease, psychiatric disorders, and oncology. This approach led him and his team at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto to become the first to use focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier in a patient with Alzheimer's disease.
Noah Philip, MD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He is the founding Director of Psychiatric Neuromodulation at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Providence VA Health System in Providence, RI, and leads innovative mental health research at the VA's RR&D Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology.
Driven by pioneering Body MRI radiologist Pejman (Peji) Ghanouni, MD, PhD, and a multidisciplinary team of experts, Stanford University has become a luminary site for focused ultrasound (FUS) research and is laying the groundwork for future clinical success. Read Dr. Ghanouni's profile from May 2015.
Rajiv Chopra, PhD, is a pioneering focused ultrasound researcher and a dynamic entrepreneur who has started several companies with the goal of putting focused ultrasound technology in the hands of physicians and researchers. His research has advanced the technology for prostate treatment and countless other applications. Now, he is planning to build a network of outpatient imaging clinics that offer therapeutic ultrasound as a treatment option.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Biomedical Engineering
University of Calgary University of Calgary researchers with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute in the Cumming School of Medicine are combining expertise and resources to bring the first comprehensive focused ultrasound brain program to Western Canada. Physicians and scientists from the departments of Clinical Neurosciences, Radiology, and Psychiatry have all joined together for this project. Read the site profile from January 2018.
Can focused ultrasound be used as a tool to allow therapeutic agents to reach deadly brain tumors? Is it possible to stop the progression and spread of breast cancer? If Parkinson's disease is diagnosed early, could its effect on the brain be reversed? We recently sat down with Dr. Richard Price whose team is tackling these questions and more.
Dr. Price is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Radiation & Radiation Oncology and Research Director of the UVA Focused Ultrasound Center. His primary interests in focused ultrasound relate to drug and gene delivery across the blood-brain barrier and working to enhance drug and gene delivery to muscle.
Job Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer
- Managing Director
Job Titles:
- Clinical Trials Coordination Director
S. Mo. R. Carlisle, R. Laga, R. Myers, S. Graham, R. Cawood, K. Ulbrich L. Seymour, C.-C. Coussios. Increasing the density of nanomedicines improves their ultrasound-mediated delivery to tumours, J Controlled Release 2015;210:10-18.
Job Titles:
- Project Management Office Analyst
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Dean of the University
Dr. Beardsley is Dean of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. During his tenure, the School has reached new heights in diversity, student and faculty excellence, rankings and fundraising, and he has been reappointed to another term as dean through 2025. Dr. Beardsley is also the Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration and teaches graduate courses in strategy, leadership, global business, and general management. Prior to Darden, Dr. Beardsley was most recently Global Leader of Learning and Leadership Development at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm that serves 70 percent of the Fortune 1000 companies. As a senior partner at McKinsey, he was based in Brussels, Belgium, and held multiple leadership roles over his 26-year career including as an elected member of McKinsey's global board of directors and leader of McKinsey's strategy practice. He served clients in more than 40 countries.
Dr. Beardsley grew up in New England and Alaska and completed his undergraduate education in Electrical Engineering at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He then attended MIT Sloan School of Management where he received his MS in Management and earned his doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania. He is bilingual and a citizen of the USA and France.
Seung-Schik Yoo, PhD, MBA, is an Associate Professior of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and an MRI Research Associate at Brigham & Women's Hospital. He is making breakthroughs in using focused ultrasound to induce functional neuromodulation of the brain and peripheral nervous system and experimenting with various FUS parameters to one day achieve this important milestone in humans.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quest Diagnostics
Mr. Rusckowski is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quest Diagnostics. Since joining Quest Diagnostics as President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2012, Mr. Rusckowski has focused on transforming the company, based on its compelling vision of "Empowering better health with diagnostic insights." Under his leadership, the company has refocused on its core diagnostic information services business, sold non-core assets, delivered disciplined deployment, including share repurchases and acquisitions, and simplified its organization structure to better serve customers by removing complexity, speeding decision making and empowering employees. He was elected Chairman of the Board in December 2016.
Prior to joining Quest Diagnostics, Mr. Rusckowski was CEO of Philips Healthcare, which became the largest unit of Royal Philips Electronics under his leadership. He joined Philips in 2001 when it acquired the Healthcare Solutions Group he was leading at Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies. Mr. Rusckowski is a member of the Board of Directors of Project Hope, a global health education and humanitarian assistance organization. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the American Clinical Laboratory Association, and served as its Chairman from 2014-2017.
Mr. Rusckowski earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science degree in Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.
Seoul National University Hospital | Jae Young Lee, MD, PhD The Core Hub for Medical Research of UltraSound (CHORUS) is a focused ultrasound research facility at Seoul National University Hospital with a mission to make a better world using ultrasound. Read the research site profile from June 2020.
Stephen Scionti, MD, a urologist who specializes in prostate cancer treatment, is a leading authority on using focused ultrasound to treat the disease.
Job Titles:
- Director of Clinical Relationships
- Fibroid Education Center, Boca Raton, FL
INSERM - Laboratory of Therapeutic Applications of Ultrasound (LabTAU) LabTAU is located within a large medical and research community and conducts significant translational and clinical research with a multi-disciplinary, highly qualified, and integrated team of physicians and scientists. The Center has many years of experience in commercializing technology and creating strategic interfaces between engineering and medicine. Read the site profile from February 2017.
Suzanne LeBlang, MD, or "Dr. Susie" as she is referred to at the Fibroid Education Center, has been an important member of the focused ultrasound community having published papers, delivered numerous scientific talks, and trained many practitioners. She also serves as a Co-Chief Medical Officer of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and the Medical Director for the Fibroid Education Center.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Mr. Ryder is the former Chairman and CEO of the Reader's Digest Association and President of American Express's Travel Related Services International, Merchant Services Worldwide, and American Express Publishing Worldwide divisions. He has experience in the publishing industry, having worked at Time Inc., CBS, and Education Today Company, Inc. where he was co-founder and CEO. Mr. Ryder has also served on numerous boards, including at Amazon for 20 years, during which time he was audit committee chairman and the first lead independent director. Other previous board appointments have included Starwood Hotels, RPX Corporation, Startek Corp, American Express International Bank, and Virgin Mobile - where he was Chairman. He is also a prolific writer on the subjects of food and wine.
Jean-Francois Aubry, PhD | Institut Langevin The Wave Physics for Medicine and Biology laboratory is a leading biomedical research center, developing innovative imaging concepts, and creating and patenting therapeutic innovations in focused ultrasound. Headed by Dr. Mickaël Tanter, the laboratory is within the Institut Langevin in Paris and is affilitated with the French National Institute of Health (Inserm), the French National Center for Research (CNRS), and the ESPCI ParisTech School of Engineering. Read the site profile from December 2015.
Eight years ago, focused ultrasound pioneer Larry Crum, PhD, transitioned away from directing the department that houses the focused ultrasound efforts at the University of Washington (UW), but under the leadership of Tom Matula, PhD, it has continued to grow into a powerhouse for researching and commercializing focused ultrasound technologies.
Dr. Krishna is an Assistant Professor, Center for Neuromodulation, Department of Neurosurgery and Department of Neuroscience, at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio with a focus on treatments and techniques of deep brain stimulation, spinal cord stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, and high intensity focused ultrasound.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Retired Chairman and CEO of Medtronic
Mr. Hawkins is retired Chairman and CEO of Medtronic and currently a corporate director serving on several public, private, and nonprofit boards, including, Biogen, Cirtec,BioVentus,Mimedx,Virtue Labs,Babies and Immucor . He is currently Chairman of the Board of the Duke University Health System and on th Executive Committee of the Duke Board of Trustees. Hawkins is the co-founder of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), and past-president of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AMIBE). He was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2017 and is an AIMBE Fellow. Hawkins received his bachelor's degree in electrical and biomedical engineering from Duke University, where he also conducted medical research in pathology. He also earned an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Wladyslaw "Wady" Gedroyc, MBBS, MRCP, FRCR is a Consultant Radiologist at St. Mary's Hospital, Imperial College NHS trust and has been a champion of focused ultrasound for 16 years. He has treated more than 600 patients, mostly women with uterine fibroids, at St. Mary's. The center now treats about one uterine fibroid patient per week, and they are continuing to explore other uses of the technology.
Zenon Starčuk, Jr., PhD, is the head of the Magnetic Resonance and Cryogenics Department, Magnetic Resonance Research Group, and Facility ISI-LMR of infrastructures Czech-BioImaging and Euro-BioImaging. He and a team of researchers at the Institute of Scientific Instruments (ISI) in the Czech Republic are seeking synergetic ways to use MRI and focused ultrasound for the development of new therapeutic applications.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics at the University of Michigan
Zhen Xu, PhD is an Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics at the University of Michigan. She seeks to ultimately see the translation focused ultrasound to the medical clinic, providing life-changing non-invasive treatment for diseases such as blood clots, liver tumors, brain cancer, and congenital heart disease.