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National Institutes of Health

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

2023 Annual Report of the Division of Intramural Research

Office of the Clinical Director, NICHD

Catherine Gordon Laverne Mensah
  • Catherine Gordon, MD, Clinical Director
  • Laverne Mensah, MD, Deputy Clinical Director
  • Meg Keil, PhD, CRNP, Associate Director, Nursing and Protocol Navigation
  • Karim Calis, PharmD, MPH, Director of Clinical Research and Compliance
  • An Dang Do, MD, PhD, Assistant Clinical Investigator
  • Cristina Tatsi, MD, Assistant Clinical Investigator
  • Alan DeCherney, MD, Senior Investigator
  • Veronica Gomez-Lobo, MD, Senior Staff Clinician
  • Tazim Dowlet-McElroy, MD, Staff Clinician
  • Jacqueline Maher, MD, Staff Clinician
  • Samar Rahhal, MD, Staff Clinician
  • Denna Zeltser, MD, Staff Clinician
  • Craig Abbott, PhD, Statistician
  • Samah Agabein, MD, Protocol Coordinator
  • Glynnis Vance, Protocol Coordinator
  • Roberto Romero, MD, Maternal Fetal Medicine
  • Mahlet Asrat, MHM, Program Analyst
  • Lisa Ast, BA, RN, Clinical Research Nurse
  • Monique Bertschy, MVA, Patient Care Coordinator
  • Andrea Bowling, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
  • Sheila Brady, CRNP, MSN, Nurse Practitioner
  • Alberta Derkyi, FNP, CRNP, MSN, Nurse Practitioner
  • Desiree Labor, MSN, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
  • John Perreault, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
  • Harinder Raipuria, DNP, FNP, Nurse Practitioner
  • Devora Stein, MSN, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner
  • Anna Dorsey, Digital Imaging
  • Kisha Jenkins, BSN, RN, Clinical Nurse
  • Lola Saidkhodjaeva, BSN, RN, Clinical Nurse
  • Sara Talvacchio, BSN, RN, Clinical Nurse
  • Harveen Kaur, MPH, Clinical Research Coordinator
  • Fathy Majadly, BS, Patient Specimen Coordinator
  • Denise Phillips, Program Specialist
  • Loc Trinh, Research Chemical Engineer
A collage of OCD staff

Click image to view.
Office of the Clinical Director: Professional, Administrative, and Biorepository Staff

Top: Catherine Gordon, Laverne Mensah, Karim Calis
Center: Meg Keil, Denise Phillips, Glynnis Vance
Bottom: Mahlet Asrat, Fathy Majadly, Loc Trinh

The NICHD Office of the Clinical Director (OCD) is responsible for research oversight, scientific review, and administration of the clinical research program within the Division of Intramural Research (DIR). The clinical research activities are coordinated with the Scientific Director and address diseases related to pediatrics and women’s health.

The Institute's current clinical research portfolio includes clinical trials, natural history studies of rare diseases, and drug and device development. The clinical research program currently includes 68 protocols, conducted by 19 NICHD Principal Investigators and 170 associate investigators. Approximately half of the protocols include pediatric patients, many focusing on rare diseases. Fifteen percent (15%) of the protocols involve investigational drugs or devices. Current research areas include developmental disorders, healthy human development, developmental endocrinology, neurosciences, genetics, translational imaging, pediatric and reproductive endocrinology, lymphatic anomalies, infertility, fertility preservation, and population health. These clinical research activities are governed under the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) with patient participation in the NIH Clinical Center (CC). Delivery of quality and safe patient care in the NIH Clinical Center is vital in the context of NICHD’s clinical research programs and services.

Partnerships and collaboration efforts, both between and within NIH institutes, and externally through research agreements with leading academic institutions nationally, and partnerships with industry, through technology transfer or cooperative research and development agreements, foster advancement of science and cutting-edge scientific research. Emphasis is placed on nurturing a clinical research environment that encourages creativity and on expanding the fundamental scientific knowledge of summer interns, postbaccalaureate research trainees, as well as postdoctoral and clinical fellows in various basic science and clinical disciplines. The aim of the various components of the Office of the Clinical Director are to achieve the mission of NICHD: “NICHD leads research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all.”

Contact

For more information, email catherine.gordon@nih.gov or visit https://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/org/dir/osd/mt/cd.

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