Office of the Clinical Director
- Forbes D. Porter, MD, PhD, Clinical Director
- Meg Keil, PhD, Associate Director, Nursing and Protocol Navigation
- Maryellen Rechen, BS, RN, Special Assistant to the Clinical Director
- Donna Peterson, BS, RN, Protocol and Institutional Review Board (IRB) Coordinator
- Simona Bianconi, MD, Staff Clinician
- Jenny Blau, MD, Staff Clinician
- An Dang Do, MD, PhD, Staff Clinician
- Andrew Demidowich, MD, Staff Clinician
- Denna Zeltser, MD, Staff Clinician
- Karen Adams, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
- Sheila Brady, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
- John Perreault, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
- Margarita Raygada, PhD, Genetic Counselor
- Craig Abbott, PhD, Statistician
- Denise Phillips, Clinical Research Coordinator
- DuShon Hutchinson, Patient Care Coordinator
- Fathy Majadly, BS, Patient Specimen Coordinator
- Loc Trinh, Research Chemical Engineer
- Alan DeCherney, MD, Senior Investigator
- Kisha Jenkins, BS, RN, Clinical Nurse
- Karim Calis, PharmD, MPH, Clinical Investgator
- Frank Pucino, PharmD, Volunteer
The NICHD intramural clinical research program currently includes 86 protocols with five main areas of focus: (1) adult, pediatric, and reproductive endocrinology; (2) human genetics; (3) normal growth and development; (4) national/international public health; and (5) women’s health. The protocols are conducted by 32 NICHD principal investigators and 161 associate investigators. The NICHD clinical protocol portfolio spans the spectrum from Natural History to therapeutic trials. Eleven protocols involve an investigational drug or device. Four protocols support our teaching mission. Approximately half the protocols include pediatric patients.
The conduct of studies is guided by two entities administered by the Office of the Clinical Director: the NICHD Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the NICHD Data Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC). The NICHD IRB is chaired by Karim Calis, PharmD, MPH, and has twelve members and two alternates. The composition of the NICHD IRB is diverse, both in terms of medical and ethical expertise and affiliation. The IRB has specific expertise in reproductive endocrinology, gynecology, pediatrics, endocrinology, genetics, and the ethics of human subject research. NICHD’s IRB is a resource for other institutes that have protocols involving children or women’s health and it supports the National Children’s Study. The NICHD DSMC is chaired by Frank Pucino, PharmD, and has five other members. Both committees possess expertise in issues related to clinical trials, ethics, pediatrics, genetics, and reproductive medicine.
Contact
For more information, email fdporter@helix.nih.gov or visit http://science.nichd.nih.gov/confluence/display/ocd/Home.
