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
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