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
- Karim Calis, PharmD, MPH, Director of Clinical Research and Compliance
- Alan DeCherney, MD, Senior Investigator
- Simona Bianconi, MD, Staff Clinician
- An Dang Do, MD, PhD, Staff Clinician
- Denna Zeltser, MD, Staff Clinician
- Sheila Brady, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
- Marianne Knue, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
- John Perreault, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
- Kisha Jenkins, BS, RN, Clinical Nurse
- Margarita Raygada, PhD, Genetic Counselor
- Charalampos Lyssikatos, MD, Protocol Coordinator
- Craig Abbott, PhD, Statistician
- Fathy Majadly, BS, Patient Specimen Coordinator
- Loc Trinh, Research Chemical Engineer
- Denise Phillips, Administrative and Credentialing Support
- Lisa Ast, Administrative Support
- Jennifer Hernandez, Administrative Support
- Monique Shelton, Administrative Support
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 eleven 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's or women’s health. 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 https://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/org/dir/osd/mt/cd.
