Staff

David Wholley, Director

Mr. Wholley manages The Biomarkers Consortium for the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. He has also served as Director of the Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN), a public-private partnership dedicated to helping discover the genetic basis of common disease, and led the development of a major public-private partnership in drug safety with the biopharmaceutical industry and FDA. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2006, Mr. Wholley’s career spanned nearly 25 years in healthcare technology business management including extensive experience in product development, sales, marketing, corporate strategy and partnership and project development. Mr. Wholley has held senior management roles in several venture-funded technology startup companies, including head of Global Marketing and Development for First Genetic Trust, Inc., which developed software for large-scale collaborative genetic research and personalized medicine. During a 16-year career at IBM, he co-led the corporate strategy team that guided IBM’s formation of its Life Sciences industry organization and its first product, DiscoveryLink database integration software, in 2000. Mr. Wholley holds an M.A. from Rutgers University and a Certificate in Business Administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Sonia Pearson-White, Ph.D., Scientific Program Manager, Cancer

Dr. Pearson-White is responsible for identifying, planning and organizing the efforts of several Project Teams, reviewing their data and progress, ensuring that those data are complete for presentation and external evaluation, and that set milestones are being met. Her principal project is the signature project of the Biomarkers Consortium, I-SPY 2, An Adaptive Breast Cancer Trial Design in the Setting of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy. Together with Dr. Caroline Sigman, Dr. Pearson-White manages the activities of the Cancer Steering Committee of the Biomarkers Consortium, including working groups and developing and reviewing new project concepts.

Dr. Sonia Pearson-White did her dissertation research in the laboratory of Daniel Nathans in the Microbiology/Molecular Biology department at Johns Hopkins University Medical School. She had been in the lab just 3 months when Dr. Nathans won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the co-discovery of restriction enzymes and the understanding that they would allow the cloning and sequencing of genomes (1978). Her postdoctoral research was in the laboratory Dr. Charles P. Emerson, Jr., at the University of Virginia, studying the regulation of skeletal muscle development.

Dr. Pearson-White was Principal Investigator on two R01 grants and 3 Muscular Dystrophy Association Research grants in the position of Assistant/Associate Professor at the University of Virginia. Her independent research program was on the proto-oncogene, SNO, the close relative of SKI; both of these proteins negatively regulate TGF-beta signaling. In the early 90’s Dr. Pearson-White created the Transgenic Mouse Core Facility at the University of Virginia. She directed a complex, technically-oriented and successful facility for 12 years, creating many hundreds of lines of mice, serving 40 different investigators and supporting millions of dollars in grant funding to investigators at the University of Virginia (1992–2004). Dr. Pearson-White developed a new curriculum in mammalian genetics for the Advanced Genetics course, and lectured in that course for ten years. She has been a scientific peer reviewer in several settings, including for the New Jersey and New York stem cell research initiatives.

Dr. Pearson-White served as a Scientific Manager at Genentech, Inc, managing a group of 21 people in support of the mouse genetics research program (2005–2006). Dr. Pearson-White moved to the National Institutes of Health (NIH/OD/OER/OEP) in the Office of Extramural Research, reviewing Human Subjects concerns and participating in policy development (2006–2008).

Judy Siuciak, Ph.D., Scientific Program Manager, Neuroscience

Dr. Judy Siuciak, Scientific Program Manager at The Biomarkers Consortium, manages the activities and projects of the Neuroscience Steering Committee. Prior to joining The Biomarkers Consortium, Dr. Siuciak spent 17 years working in industry where she directed in vivo pharmacology laboratories engaged in CNS drug discovery research. While at Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, her laboratory focused on developing novel therapies for schizophrenia, cognitive dysfunction and depression. Dr. Siuciak’s early career was spent at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, in Tarrytown, NY, where her laboratory focused on the neurochemical and behavioral effects of neurotrophic factors, and their role in depression and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Siuciak received her Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from the University of Illinois, College of Medicine. She is a co-inventor on two patents and has authored over 40 scientific publications in the field of Neuroscience and CNS drug discovery.

Maria Vassileva, PhD, Scientific Program Manager, Metabolic Disorders

Dr. Maria Vassileva, Scientific Program Manager on the Biomarkers Consortium, is responsible for managing the activities of the Metabolic Disorders Steering Committee. She is also in charge of identifying new project ideas, leading their development into project plans, and organizing the efforts of several Project Teams by reviewing their progress, ensuring that milestones are set and then met during execution. Dr. Vassileva often presents at conferences and organizes symposia on public private partnerships, evaluating translational medicine and the priorities of the Steering Committeeand the Consortium.

Maria received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD. Her graduate thesis focus was on post-translational protein modification. At Johns Hopkins, she also received a vaccine science and policy certificate from the Department of International Health. While in graduate school, she was awarded the National Academies Christine Mirzayan Science Policy fellowship and worked on the Board of Global Health at the Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC. At the National Academies Maria participated in the final stages of the writing of two reports on lowering birth defects in developing countries.

Prior to joining The Biomarkers Consortium Team, Maria worked for four years at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as a Senior Program Associate of the Research Competitiveness Program (RCP). At AAAS, Dr. Vassileva was involved in providing peer review and programmatic guidance services to research institutions across the US. During her years with RCP, she worked on expanding the program internationally as well. Her major responsibilities were recruiting technical experts for mail review, selecting and leading panels of renowned scientists, research administrators, technology transfer experts, entrepreneurs and policy specialists from government, academia and the private sector, on site during strategic planning visits and research institution evaluations, as well as writing proposals in the areas of science and policy, organizing multiple symposia at national meetings and giving presentations on the federal budget, research competitiveness issues and the states’ interest in science and technology, at various conferences around the country.

Paris Moore, Partnership Development Officer

Partnership Development Officer for The Biomarkers Consortium, Paris L. A. Moore is responsible for cultivating, soliciting and stewarding corporations, foundations, nonprofit organizations and individuals interested in funding biomedical research initiatives. Working with the Consortium’s Director and Scientific Program Managers, Ms. Moore conducts fundraising efforts and activities to execute projects of The Biomarkers Consortium. Paris is also active in creating and implementing strategies that increase collaborations and alliances such as identifying opportunities for partnership and maintaining relationships with current organizations via the Consortium’s Contributing Membership program.

Prior to becoming of a member of The Biomarkers Consortium Team, Paris most recently served as Director of Development at the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research (AFER). While at AFER, Ms. Moore was instrumental in expanding the Foundation’s donor base and fundraising efforts through targeted appeals, campaigns and several special events, in addition to assisting the Foundation’s Board of Directors to heighten the AFER’s visibility.

With over 10 years of fundraising experience, Paris has been active in the field of health-related fundraising through her tenure at notable non-profit organizations such as The Endocrine Society and Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), where she has been able to develop a successful track record in not only securing funding for research initiatives, annual conventions/conferences, endowments and travel grant programs but also developing effective corporate partnerships and alliances. Ms. Moore received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications (with a concentration in Public Relations & Advertising) from Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland.

Jessica Ratay, MS, Clinical Project Manager, Metabolic Disorders

Jessica Ratay is a Clinical Project Manager at the Biomarkers Consortium and her work primarily focuses on research projects of the Metabolic Disorders Steering Committee and the Executive Committee.  Jessica received her Master's degree in genetic counseling from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.  She has experience working in pediatric, obstetric, and oncology clinics.  Prior to joining the Biomarkers Consortium,  Jessica worked at the George Washington University as a research coordinator for the Management of Myelomeningocele Study, a multi-center randomized clinical trial comparing prenatal surgery with postnatal surgery for open spina bifida.

Cheryl Melencio, Executive Assistant

Ms. Melencio provides administrative support to the Director and Scientific Program Managers of the Consortium. In that capacity, she supports the Executive Committee and Steering Committees. Cheryl has been with the Foundation since 2007. Previously she was employed by The National Industrial Transportation League.