Who Is MyPART?

Brigitte C. Widemann, M.D. is co-leader of MyPART and Deputy Director of the Center for Cancer Research and Chief of the Pediatric Oncology Branch at NCI. She brings her expertise in pediatric oncology, natural history studies, and developing clinical trials for rare tumors to MyPART. She has been at NCI for 26 years. She grew up in Cologne, Germany and has six sisters. She is also a twin! She loves running, spending time outside, and watching soccer.

Karlyne M. Reilly, Ph.D. is co-leader of MyPART and oversees a basic cancer research group in the Pediatric Oncology Branch in the Center for Cancer Research. She brings her expertise in mouse models of rare cancers and genome-wide data analysis to MyPART. She grew up in Berkeley, California and has been at NCI for 16 years. She loves oil painting and costume design whenever she has the time.

Mary Frances Wedekind Malone, D.O. is the principal investigator of the Natural History Study of Rare Solid Tumors. She grew up in Knoxville, TN in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. She is a pediatric oncologist with expertise in immunotherapy and developing clinical trials for pediatric sarcomas and rare tumors. Her favorite hobby is running around with her two young daughters.

John Glod, M.D., Ph.D. is a pediatric oncologist/neuro oncologist and the Clinical Director of the Pediatric Oncology Branch in the Center for Cancer Research. He grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and roots for all Philadelphia sports teams. He has been at NCI for five years. He loves to go fishing.

Jaydira del Rivero, M.D. is a medical and endocrine oncologist. She grew up in Veracruz, Mexico. She has been at the NIH for eight years and at the NCI for three years. She loves dancing and wishes she had more time for it.

Taylor Sundby, M.D. is from Lexington, Virginia. He loves to spend time outdoors with his two kids. He also loves soccer, skiing, and hiking.

Rosandra N. Kaplan, M.D.  is a physician scientist studying how different tumors can spread throughout the body. 

Margarita Raygada, Ph.D., M.M.Sc. is the genetic counselor for MyPART and an expert in hereditary cancer syndromes. She grew up in Venezuela and very recently joined NCI, after working on hereditary cancer syndromes in children at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She works to help families understand how their genes affect their health.

Pam Wolters, Ph.D. co-directs the Behavioral Health Core and is head of the Neurobehavioral Research Program in the Pediatric Oncology Branch of the Center for Cancer Research. She has been at NCI for over 30 years. Her expertise is in designing and conducting clinical outcome assessments in treatment and natural history studies, especially for children, so that we can learn from the patients' experiences. In her free time, she likes to swim, hike, and read.

Staci Martin Peron, Ph.D. is the clinical director and training director of the Pediatric Psychology and Neurobehavioral Research Program of the Pediatric Oncology Branch. She grew up in Florida and has been at NCI for 18 years. She is committed to helping children with cancers or rare tumors and their families cope with the mental and psychological effects of cancer treatment.

Lori Wiener, Ph.D., D.C.S.W, L.C.S.W.-C. co-directs the Behavioral Health Core and is head of the Psychosocial Support and Research Program in the Pediatric Oncology Branch. She grew up in New York and has been at NCI for 32 years. She has developed many programs advancing psychosocial research and psychosocial care standards for patients and families who face life-threatening illnesses. Her favorite hobby is nature and portrait photography. Her family are huge Baltimore Ravens fans.

Robin Lockridge, Ph.D. grew up in Seattle, WA and recently joined NCI as the neuropsychologist working with MyPART. Her expertise is in clinical assessment of pediatric cognitive, neurodevelopmental, and neuropsychological disorders as well as children and youth program development. She enjoys reading, sports, and chasing after her young son.

BJ Thomas, R.N. is the lead research nurse for MyPART. She grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and has been working on NCI clinical studies for 15 years, and even longer at NIH. Her favorite sports are the Winter Olympics. She loves to travel and fondly remembers getting stranded in Italy when she missed her bus back to Rome.

Donna Bernstein, R.N., B.S.N. is a research nurse for MyPART. She grew up in Maryland and has worked at the NCI for 19 years and has been with the NIH since 1986. Her favorite sports team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. She loves to travel.

Crystal Flowers, CRNP is a Nurse Practitioner for MyPART. She loves to relax with her friends and family and spend time outdoors.

Oxana Kapustina, LL.M., has worked in the Pediatric Oncology Branch at NCI as a part of the NF team for more than six years. She grew up in Russia. In her free time, she loves to travel and relax with family and friends. She is thankful to be with like-minded people and contribute to cancer research.

Marcia Young grew up in Maryland and has worked at the NIH for over 10 years. In her previous roles at the NIH, she has been committed to patient care and making sure patients are comfortable and taken care of during their visits to the NIH Clinical Center. She brings this commitment to patient care to the MyPART team. She loves spending time with family and friends, cooking, and watching Netflix. 

Shadin Ahmed is a post-baccalaureate fellow with the pediatric oncology branch. She grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and joined the NCI this year. In her free time, she likes to go running, go to art museums, and watch live music.

Erika Kaschak is a post-baccalaureate fellow for MyPART. She graduated from Notre Dame of Maryland University with her bachelor’s degree in Biology in May 2022. She brings her unique skills in medical records extraction to MyPART.

Allison Dockman is a postbaccalaureate fellow for MyPART and joined the team in 2023. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and enjoys running and completing puzzles.

Anne Liu is a postbaccalaureate fellow for MyPART and joined the team in 2023. She has a gray tabby cat named Koji. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, singing, and playing video games.

Christina Vivelo, Ph.D. is the Communications Editor for MyPART and joined the NCI after finishing graduate school in late 2018. She has two rescue cats and loves going to the beach in the summer.

Katie Pendo, M.S. is a research technician supporting the analysis of biospecimens from the Natural History Study of Rare Tumors. She has been at NCI a little over one year. She grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota and enjoys keeping in touch with her friends and family around the world by videochat. Her favorite sports team is DC United, and her favorite hobby is playing video games.

Francesco Tomassoni Ardori, Ph.D. is a research scientist designing new mouse models of rare tumors for MyPART using information gathered from the Natural History Study of Rare Tumors. He grew up in Italy and has been at NCI for eight years. His favorite pastime is windsurfing.

Vid Daulatabad, Ph.D. joins the MyPART team as a bioinformatician. Vid grew up in Telangana, India and loves the Indian Cricket Team. In his spare time, he enjoys Jiu-Jitsu.

Jason E. Levine, M.D. is Associate Director of the CCR Office of Information Technology. He specializes in developing systems to manage the flow of clinical data in large-scale clinical studies and brings his expertise to MyPART.

Nurlanbek Shonkoev, M.Eng. is the web developer and software engineer for the MyPART database and user interfaces. He joined NCI this year and is thankful for having the opportunity to contribute to the fight against cancer.

Yuti Gandhi develops web applications for MyPART. She joined NCI this year and grew up in India. She loves to travel. Her favorite sports are football and cricket.