Our Study Team
Our research is conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health under the direction of David A. Greenberg, Ph.D. The research team includes biostatisticians, geneticists, molecular biologists, computer experts and social workers. In addition, we have a network of physicians and neurologists at New York Presbyterian Medical Center and other medical sites nationwide who are collaborating in our program.
Meet Our Team:
Dr David Greenberg
Principal Investigator – David Greenberg, PhD
Dr. Greenberg is Director of the Division of Statistical Genetics and is a pioneer in the field of epilepsy genetics. His Multicenter Study may be the longest-running study of epilepsy genetics anywhere and is responsible for identifying the first two genes directly implicated in common epilepsy. Dr. Greenberg is also a well-known expert in the field of common complex disease genetics. He has developed mathematical techniques for genetic data analysis and is one of the leading practitioners and proponents of computer simulation techniques to understand complex genetic diseases. He directs a laboratory for gene mapping and analysis at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Debra Wolgemuth
Co-Investigator – Debra Wolgemuth, PhD .
Dr. Wolgemuth is a Professor of Genetics and Development and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University and an experienced molecular and developmental biologist whose laboratory discovered the mouse BRD2 gene. She works in close collaboration with Dr. Greenberg and is responsible for supervising the molecular studies on BRD2 function and the in vivo function of mouse BRD2 that will take place in her laboratory with the assistance of Dr. Enyuan Shang.
Irene S. Klotz
Director, Clinical Recruitment – Irene S. Klotz, CMSW, CPT
A social worker with many years in health care and social services, Ms. Klotz brings administrative skills and community organizing background to the Family Studies in Epilepsy program. She is responsible for community outreach, maintaining relationships with research collaborators nationwide, and presenting research the study and materials to new collaborators. Ms. Klotz works with medical staff throughout the collaborating network an provide support for patients and their families. She supervises the team research associates, student interns and volunteers.
Nicole Iorillo
Research Associate – Nicole Iorillo, BA
Ms. Iorillo brings an extensive background in healthcare public relations to the Family Studies in Epilepsy Program. As a research associate, she is responsible for recruitment of study participants and new collaborators in the New York area. She is a liaison between the study, the epileptologists and study participants. She assists with the clinical interviews of study participants; coordinates their involvement in the study and collects volunteer controls for scientific comparison.
Janine Rose
Research Associate – Janine Rose, BS
Ms. Rose is a longtime advocate and lobbyist for epilepsy resources and concerns and founder of “Teen Talk,” a parent run support group for teenage girls with epilepsy. She is responsible for patient contacts and follow-ups, recruitment, medical record compilation for patients who have agreed to participate and signed a medical release form. She also obtains clinical histories and family pedigrees from participants and attends participating clinics to maintain visibility with physicians and the medical and family community.
Associate Research Scientist/Compliance Manager – Elisa Dicker, PhD.
Dr. Dicker is directly responsible for ensuring compliance with IRB regulations for the Protection of Human Subjects for this study. In order to maintain our research, we must have annual IRB approval for the unique regulations specific to each collaborating site. Dr. Dicker, a native of Argentina, is fluent in Spanish, has worked as a professional translator, and has appeared on Spanish cable television to promote the Family Studies in Epilepsy program for the Spanish community. Dr. Dicker conducts clinical interviews, translates contact letters and medical information and carries out general translation responsibilities for many of our Spanish-speaking subjects.
Enyuan Shang
Postdoctoral fellow – Enyuan Shang, M.Phil., PhD
Dr. Shang is currently performing his thesis research on BRD2 in Dr. Wolgemuth’s laboratory. He devotes his efforts to the imprinting studies in Aim 2, in collaboration with Dr. Wolgemuth.
Laboratory Analysis Supervisor – Fengli Zhang, MD
Dr. Zhang is responsible for DNA extraction, preparing samples for PCR and genotyping with microsatellites or SNPs. She has worked extensively with data and laboratory analysis techniques and is responsible for implementing and maintaining new research technology for the Family Studies in Epilepsy Laboratory.
Hiromi Sanders
Post-doctoral Research – Hiromi Sanders, PhD.
Dr. Sanders performs the gene expression analysis of BRD2 variant transcripts in the brain, with assistance from the technician and Mr. Wang. She assists with the characterization of the seizure susceptibility and electrophysiological properties of mice that have only one copy of the BRD2 gene. In addition to performing and analyzing the experiments, she is responsible for organizing data and preparing data for publication.
Sudhir Marathe
Associate Research Scientist – Sudhir Marathe, PhD
Dr. Marathe is responsible for design and maintenance of the web-based database system and adaptation to increasing demands for new data integration approaches to understand the diverse data of the epilepsy study. He has doctoral training from Cambridge University in Molecular Biology and Computer Science applications. Dr. Marathe has had extensive professional experience in web technologies as a Software engineer and Consultant at Scient Inc., NY. He has a broad experience in design and implementation of enterprise level applications using Java and Microsoft technologies.
Veena Singh
Programmer – Veena Singh, PhD
Dr. Singh is a Java and C++ programmer who assists Dr. Marathe in developing the data base functions for data extraction and analysis.
Bettina Khan
Center Study Liaison – Bettina Khan, BS
Ms. Kahn is responsible for coordination of the different laboratories involved in the Division of Statistical Genetics, the Role Laboratory, the Wolgemuth laboratory, the Naini laboratory. She maintains communication between the personnel, arranges meetings, monitors supply orders, alerts appropriate personnel for problem solving and resolves organizational issues between the laboratories.
For more information, we invite you to read about our study and find out how you can get involved. You can also look at a map of our collaboratoring sites and find out how you can participate.