The Brain Science Foundation has a strategic advantage rooted in the depth of experience and entrepreneurial spirit embodied in its boards. Members of the Board of Trustees and the Advisory Committee operate with a sense of urgency in mission and demonstrate high levels of commitment, engagement, adaptability, ownership and accountability.
Steven R. Haley and Kathleen P. Haley
Steven R. Haley and his wife Kathleen Haley established the Brain Science Foundation in 2002 following Steven’s treatment for meningioma in 1997. For the last 30 years Steven Haley has served in senior management positions in the high technology industry, including with companies such as Juniper, Cisco Systems, StrataCom, and Bytex. He holds a degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, runs his own diversified asset management company and serves on the boards of several private companies and charitable organizations.
After a successful career in finance and accounting, Kathleen Haley now devotes her time to raising the couple’s three children and serving on several nonprofit boards. Kathleen holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Northeastern University. To read an interview with Steven Haley, click here.
Peter M. Black, M.D., Ph.D., FACS
Dr. Peter Black is the Franc D. Ingraham Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and Founding Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a post he held for more than twenty years.
He is a respected clinical neurosurgeon with a busy neurosurgical oncology practice that includes many international referrals. Dr. Black directs the brain tumor program at Dana-Farber Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center. He is consistently listed in Best Doctors in America and Top Doctors with a special interest in surgery for meningiomas, pituitary adenomas, and low-grade gliomas; image-guided minimally invasive neurosurgery; skull base surgery; and brain mapping. Dr. Black helped to develop the first intraoperative MRI and has used this device extensively to improve brain tumor treatment. He also has extensive experience in epilepsy surgery in children and hydrocephalus in adults.
Dr. Black is deeply committed to neurosurgical research, clinical practice, and education. He was recently elected President-Elect of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS). Dr. Black will serve two years as President-Elect, four years as President, and two years as Past-President. As President-Elect, Dr. Black will help to lead the Federation’s efforts to advance neurological surgery and all of its aspects by educating and training neurosurgeons from around the globe. He has previously been involved with the WFNS as the Chair of its Bylaws committee, and also sitting on the Education and Ethics committees.
Dr. Black’s laboratory has had ongoing funding since 1980, including present RO1 funding. It investigates growth and invasion in brain tumors, especially meningiomas. Collaborations with laboratories in France and Israel have led to new models of meningiomas, new therapeutic approaches, and improved surgical planning. His bibliography includes 10 books and 500 papers, most involving brain tumor management, brain imaging and image-guided surgery, medical ethics, and molecular neurosurgery.
Dr. Black was born in Canada and while in high school, became an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto as a solo performer in piano. He attended Harvard College, graduating with honors. He returned to Canada for medical school at McGill University. He later entered surgical and then neurosurgical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. During this period, he served two years in the United States Navy, mostly at the U.S. Capitol as a physician to Congress and the Supreme Court. He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Georgetown University. In 1980 he joined the staff at the MGH. In 1987 he became a Professor and Chief of Neurosurgery at the Brigham and Women’s and Children’s Hospitals.
Dr. Black has mentored students, residents, young faculty, and graduate neurosurgeons from more than 30 countries and has given invited lectures in 40. He is very proud of the productivity of his former trainees, many holding prominent academic positions.
Read about Dr. Black's Brain Tumor Laboratory.
Click here to read an interview with Dr. Black.
Diane Coletti
Diane Coletti is the CEO/President of Prestonwood Associates, Inc., an executive search firm she founded 21 years ago. Prestonwood is dedicated to executive search excellence through its practice areas supporting the following sectors: C-Suite for software and technology companies; healthcare and biotechnology; and technology and innovation for retail and consumer markets. She is an Overseers Board Member for The Boston Children’s Museum; is on the Executive Council for the Boston College Technology Council; a sponsor of MIT’s Enterprise Forum affiliate, The Capital Network; and a selected member on The Council for Women of Boston College.
Outside of working with innovative companies, she pursues her desire to give back. Ms. Coletti has been an active leader in her community through her support of public education with a three-year term as treasurer for a notable 501(c)3 organization supporting public education in her county; is a member of the Superintendent’s Advisory Council, leading a school override that was the largest of its time in her town; School Site Councils; and Principal selection committees.
John “Jack” Delaney
John (Jack) Delaney is a partner in the Corporate Department of WilmerHale, where he chairs the Government Relations practice. His practice includes substantive legislative, administrative and regulatory representation of clients at the state and local levels, including strategic advice, counseling and drafting of proposed legislation and regulations. He also advises clients on the Massachusetts public procurement law (Chapter 30A), the Conflict of Interest Law (Chapter 268A), the Public Records Law, and acquisition of long-term leases on public property by not-for-profit and for-profit organizations.
Mr. Delaney is an elected member of the Boston Bar Association Council. He is a Massachusetts IOLTA Committee board member appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court, a member of the Board of Directors of the New England Legal Foundation, a member of the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a member of the Board of Directors and co-chair of the Government Affairs Committee of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, and chair of the Public Issues Committee of The Trustees of Reservations. He received a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College.
Liz Holzemer
Liz Holzemer is the founder of Meningioma Mommas, www.meningiomamommas.org, an online non-profit support group she created after surviving a baseball-sized meningioma brain tumor. Holzemer's dedication to raising the bar on meningioma awareness has garnered her profiles on the TODAY Show, and Discovery Health Channel, as well as in numerous print venues. She is a 2004 Woman's Day "Women Who Inspire Us" recipient.
Liz is also a freelance writer, www.lizholzemer.com and does public speaking.
She has partnered with the Brain Science Foundation as part of her lifelong commitment to raise meningioma awareness and funding for meningioma-specific research. Her first book, Curveball: When Life Throws You a Brain Tumor, will be published in spring 2007, with a portion of every sale being allocated toward research.
Liz received her M.A. in journalism from the University of Colorado and B.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine. She lives in Colorado with her husband and their two miracle children.
Barbara F. Bass, Ph.D.
Dr. Barbara Bass is an environmental and health sciences consultant with over 30 years of experience working on issues from a scientific, regulatory, and policy perspective. Her work has included areas involving toxic chemical use and release into the environment, risk assessment of exposure to toxic substances, health and mental health issues, and data reporting and evaluation. More recently, Dr. Bass, who is a meningioma survivor, has applied both her scientific training as a toxicologist specializing in the nervous system as well as her professional skills to furthering the cause of research and patient education involving brain tumors. She has performed work for government agencies, non-profit organizations, foundations and citizens’ groups.
During her career, Dr. Bass has also worked for other consulting firms, including Hampshire Research Associates, EA Engineering, Science and Technology, and Versar. As an Adjunct Professor, she co-taught a seminar on environmental law and science. She is a member of the Society of Toxicology, the Society for Risk Analysis and the American Public Health Association. She has served on various committees and expert panels.
Dr. Bass received a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. with honors in Biology and General Scholarship from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. She earned her Ph.D. in Toxicology from the Johns Hopkins University.
Michael I. Grady, M.D.
Dr. Michael I. Grady is a graduate of Boston College and the University of Vermont College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Pediatrics at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center). Dr. Grady is a diplomat and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. His military service as a Flight Surgeon in the United States Air Force included time in Vietnam for which he was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal.
From 1968-1998, Dr. Grady was a practicing Pediatrician in Boston. Also, he was Medical Director of the Boston Public Schools from 1981-1992. During this period he was co-principal investigator of a Center for Disease Control Cooperative Agreement with the Boston Public Schools for HIV/AIDS education. Dr. Grady was honored by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1992 with its "Lay Education Medical Award". He also served as President of St. Elizabeth's Health Professionals from 1988-1998 and as President of Greater Boston Primary Care Associates from 1994-1998. Also during this time he was a member of the Board of Directors of Tufts Health Plan.
Dr. Grady served as Vice President at Children's Hospital of Boston from 1998-2005 and was President of the Pediatric Physicians Organization at Children's. At the present time he is on the Emeritus Staff at Children's Hospital of Boston and on the faculty at Harvard Medical School.
In January 2006, Dr. Grady was diagnosed with a frontal lobe meningioma and operated on at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Since that time, he has been involved with and a supporter of the Brain Science Foundation.
Daniel Ponton
Daniel Ponton is the CEO/Proprietor of Classic Cuisine, Inc. and Rhino Real Estate L.L. C. Rhino re-habilitates and then portfolios commercial buildings. Classic Cuisine Inc. is better known as Club Colette. A private dining club re-established in 1982 by collaboration between Mr. Ponton and Italian leather designer Dr. Aldo Gucci. Based in Palm Beach, Florida and previously also in Southampton, New York. The club caters to the powerful. They vary from many aspects of American culture such as Industry, Wall Street, Professional sports, Fashion, Theater and Television.
Mr. Ponton is currently on the Board of The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and heads their Strategic Planning Committee. He serves on the Board of The United Way of Palm Beach – Allocations Committee, and was recently awarded the Alexis DeTocqueville Society Distinguished Citizen Award. Other organizations currently or previously served include the Board of Hospice of Palm Beach County. The nations fifth largest Hospice and a not for profit entity, The Norton Museum of Art Membership Committee, The Preservation Foundation, The Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin County, Boys and Girls Club, Autism Speaks, American Cancer Society and The Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation.
Mr. Ponton founded the Daniel E. Ponton Fund for the Neurosciences at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
A graduate of The George Washington University with a degree in finance, he was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Nancy Conn-Levin
Nancy Conn-Levin is a nationally recognized health educator specializing in brain tumor issues. She received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and her M.A. from Goddard College. Prior to her neurosurgery in 1996, Ms. Conn-Levin's work focused on stress management and health promotion for adults.
As a guest speaker at national and regional brain tumor conferences across the United States, she integrates professional expertise with her perspective as a brain tumor survivor. Ms. Conn-Levin is the author of patient education materials and resources for health-care professionals.
In 1999, she created The Meningioma List, an online support group that she facilitates for The Healing Exchange BRAIN TRUST. Since 2003, she has also been a director of the Monmouth and Ocean County Brain Tumor Support Group, Inc. in New Jersey.
Martha H. Jones
Martha Jones is President and Executive Director of the Bank of America, Celebrity Series. With a career in the performing arts spanning 30 years, Ms. Jones has worked as stage director, teacher, actress/singer, playwright, and arts administrator. She was a member of the founding team of the Huntington Theatre Company, the professional theater in residence at Boston University, and has served as Director of Development for the Indiana Repertory Theatre. In addition, Ms. Jones has been deeply involved in training and mentoring programs for young performing artists in Kentucky, Florida, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
During her 18 years with the Celebrity Series, Ms. Jones has overseen the Celebrity Series' development as a separate not-for-profit organization, the establishment of its first Board of Directors, and the expansion of its arts-in-education program, which serves approximately 25,000 young people in the greater Boston area each year, and the creation of an endowment. She has also been instrumental in expanding Celebrity Series programming to include a focus in the areas of modern dance and ballet, family concerts aimed specifically at "turning on" young audiences to classical music, cabaret, world music, and classical music initiatives.
Joseph Russell Madsen, M.D.
Dr. Joseph R. Madsen is a neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is the Director of the Neurosurgical Clinic at Children’s and specializes in the surgical treatment of epilepsy as well as the pathophysiology and treatment of hydrocephalus. As director of the Neurodynamics Laboratory at the two hospitals, he brings a bioengineering and mathematical approach to the study of the basic science of these entities, as well as innovative devices to advance their treatment.
He has been awarded six U.S. patents, and has been featured in “Best Doctors,” “Top Surgeons,” and “Top Doctors” for multiple years. He has published groundbreaking studies on the functioning of the human brain in Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the Journal of Neuroscience, and Cerebral Cortex. Current research projects include new methods to diagnose and treat impending shunt malfunction, development of a novel neurosurgical robot, more efficient diagnosis of skull anomalies in infants, and prenatal diagnosis and management of neurosurgical problems.
Dr. Madsen graduated with honors from the Harvard-MIT program in Health Science and Technology in 1981, and trained in neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he first met Dr. Peter Black when Dr. Black was a resident. He has been a part of the clinical neurosurgical staff at the Brigham and Children’s hospitals since 1989. He currently holds the rank of Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Charles D. Stiles
Charles D. Stiles, Ph.D., is a professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Deputy Director of the Mahoney Center for Neuro Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Dr. Stiles is well-known for his early work that established functional relationships between cancer-causing genes (oncogenes) and the animal cell growth factors. For the past 10 years, his research group has focused on brain cancers. His group is attacking this clinical problem by cloning and characterizing genes that regulate the development of the normal brain. Dr. Stiles has received various awards recognizing his scientific work, including the American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award, the American Association for Cancer Research prize for meritorious achievement by a young investigator and the Cori Award from the Roswell Park Memorial Institute.
Dr. Stiles serves as a consultant for the Dana-Farber/Novartis Program in Drug Discovery. In this advisory capacity, he contributed in substantive ways to development of Gleevec – the first “smart drug” to be registered by the FDA for treatment of human cancers Dr. Stiles is the author of more than 100 scientific articles and 28 book chapters and symposia.
Anne Marie Durkot
Anne Marie served as a Key Account Sales Executive with Puma North America, one of the world’s premiere sporting goods companies. She was responsible for all aspects of the selling and marketing of products to Puma’s largest accounts. Following a successful career as a sales professional, Anne Marie now devotes her time to educational and civic non- profit organizations.
Currently she serves on the Parents’ Leadership Council at Boston College, assisting the BC development team in their fund raising efforts, and in integrating new families into the Boston College community. Anne Marie formerly served on the Parents’ Association Board at the Fay School. She was Vice President of Student Services, with responsibility for cultural arts, community service and other student programs. She also assisted in many fund raising initiatives.
Anne Marie is passionate about increasing Meningioma awareness, and working to advance the mission of the Brain Science Foundation through raising money for research and finding a cure.
Anne Marie graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from the College of the Holy Cross with a degree in Psychology. She lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
Jaime Mason
Jaime Mason has professional experience in both the nonprofit and public sectors. Building on her experience in both, Jaime works as the Development Manager for FSG Social Impact Advisors, a nonprofit consulting firm that works with foundations and corporations on issues of philanthropic strategy and evaluation. Jaime is responsible for all aspects of grant funding for the organization. Previously, Jaime was employed by the Brain Science Foundation and worked to advance the program and development goals of the organization. As a staff member of the BSF Jaime had the privilege of learning from, and working alongside a talented group of individuals who demonstrated a passion and commitment to research and awareness initiatives for meningioma and other primary brain tumors. Jaime is pleased to contribute to this important work as an advisor. Prior to joining the BSF, Jaime was employed by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation where she worked as Assistant Director of Policy and Analysis of the country’s largest transitional work program.
Jaime received her M.P.A. from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and her B.A. from Boston University.
Supported Entities
