Massachusetts Chapter Staff and Board of Directors

Chapter Staff

Jessica van der Stad

Executive Director
Email Jessica
617-634-2497

Laura Donahue

Fundraising Event Manager
Email Laura
617-992-8456

Ronnie Dooley

Regional Administrative Coordinator – Northeast Region
Email Ronnie
617-631-2208

Bill Patjane

Regional Director
Email Bill


APDA Information & Referral Center
Boston University School of Medicine

Cathi Thomas, MS, RN
Director

APDA Center for Advanced Research
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Marie Saint Hilaire, MD, FRCPC
Medical Director

APDA Center for Advanced Research
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Vikram Khurana, MD, PhD
Medical Director

Chapter Board of Directors

The Chapter Board is comprised of approximately twenty volunteers with diverse backgrounds who meet monthly to direct the operation of the APDA Massachusetts Chapter. Board members are not paid for their services and are committed to the mission of helping find a cure through funding research, and to helping people in their day-to-day activities. Board members work extremely hard in planning and organizing information sessions, the annual Optimism Walk and numerous fundraising events.

Working closely with the APDA Information & Referral Center at Boston University School of Medicine and Massachusetts’s two APDA Centers for Advanced Research, the APDA Massachusetts Chapter strives to provide service to the approximately 21,000 people living with Parkinson’s in the state,* as well as their family members and care partners. The Chapter fulfills this mission by giving grants to organizations providing Parkinson’s programming,  supplying guidance and education to support groups across the state, and supporting educational programming in collaboration with the APDA Information & Referral Center at Boston University School of Medicine, among other activities.

*Based on the 2020 Census.

Executive Board

President: Kristin Stapleton
Vice President: Jay Zavala

Treasurer: Alex Yen, PhD
Secretary: Melissa Diggin, NP

Members at Large

Gail Achin
Alexandra Deal, JD
Debra R. Ellis, MSPT, NCS
Melissa Fire
Thomas Garaventi
Meg McAuliffe

Tim Macmillan
Laurie Jo Tullis
Robert Tullis
Cathy Wesalowski

Advisors

Tami DeAngelis, PT, DPT
Terry Ellis, PhD, PT, NCS
Donna McLaughlin, MSW, LICSW
Marie Saint-Hilaire, MD, FRCPC

David Sommer, MD, MPH
 Lisa Sommers, MA, CCC-SLP
Cathi Thomas, MS, RN
Linda Tickle-Degnen, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA