2026 Family Conference Speakers
Listed below are our confirmed speakers for this year’s Family Conference. Speakers will be added as they are confirmed.
Alex Kolevzon, MD
Clinical Director, Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Alex Shcheglovitov, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurobiology, University of Utah, Faculty Director of Cellular & Translational Research Core
Utah Clinical & Translational Science Institute
Amanda Blair Fath
PhD Candidate in Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Amelle L. Shillington, DO
Attending Physician, Division of Human Genetics, Associate Program Director, Medical Genetics and Genomics Residencies, Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Audrey Thurm, PhD
Director, Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Phenotyping Service, Intramural Research Program
National Institutes of Mental Health
Boaz Barak, PhD
Prof. Boaz Barak, The Sagol School of Neuroscience and The School of Psychological Sciences
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Brittany Gummere, MSW, LSW
Pediatric and Adult Palliative Care Social Worker and Grief Support Counselor
Cristan Farmer, PhD
Senior Staff Scientist; Rosamund Stone Zander and Hansjoerg Wyss Translational Neuroscience Center
Boston Children’s Hospital
Dana Winrow, PT, CT-LANA
Physical Therapist, Certified Lymphedema Specialist, Lymphedema Association of North America Certified, Mom of Child with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome
Daniel Gallo, PhD
Executive Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Jaguar Gene Therapy
Guoping Feng, PhD
Poitras Professor of Neuroscience; Associate Director, McGovern Institute for Brain Research; Director, Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang Center for Autism Research; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Director of Model Systems and Neurobiology
Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research Institute; Member, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Haitham Amal, PhD
Satell Family Professor of Brain Sciences
Boston Children’s Hospital, Hebrew University, Neurons therapeutics.
Jimmy L. Holder, Jr. MD, PhD
Co-Chair BCM Medical School Admissions Committee, Joan and Stanford Alexander Chair for Neuropsychiatric Genetics, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology
Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine
Jonathan D. Santoro, MD
Las Madrinas Endowed Chair and Chief of Neurology, Co-Director, Neurological Institute; Director of Neuroimmunology, Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
Kailey Medlock, M.S., CCC-SLP, ATP
Training and Community Development Director
Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST)
Kiley Richards, LISW
Mental Health Specialist, Support Group Facilitator for Caregiversin the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation
Kristina T. Johnson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Northeastern University, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering | College of Engineering, Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders | Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Assistant Professor Adjunct, Yale School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery | Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Research Affiliate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Affective Computing | MIT Media Lab
Northeastern University
Latha Valluripalli Soorya, PhD, BCBA
Associate Professor | Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director | AARTS Center
Rush University Medical Center
Luigi Boccuto, M.D.
Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing, College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences
Clemson University
Megan Abbott, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Neurology; Medical Director, Neurogenetic MDC Program
Children’s Hospital Colorado
Michael D’Imperio, Esq.
Office Of The State Attorney, Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Child Welfare Division
Milena Andzelm, MD, PhD
Neuroimmunologist, Boston Children’s Hospital; Instructor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Boston Children’s Hospital
Minqing Jiang, PhD
Research Scientist; McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Pilar Trelles, MD
Associate Chief, Outpatient Psychiatry; Clinical Director, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Psychiatric Service
Boston Children’s Hospital
Sheng-Nan Qiao, PhD
Associate Research Scientist, Department of Genetics
Yale University School of Medicine
Sid Srivastava, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital
Somer Bishop, PhD
Professor in Residence, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
University of California San Francisco
Teresa M. Kohlenberg, MD
Member, Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Neuropsychiatric Consultation Group (ECHO)
Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Tess Levy, CGC
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry , Clinical Trials Manager
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
William E. Bennett, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Pediatrics; Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition; Scientific Director, Indiana CTSI Patient Engagement Core; Adjunct Associate Professor of Urology
Indiana University School of Medicine
PMSF FOUNDERS
Katy Phelan, PhD
Past Director, Co-Founder
Susan Lomas
Past President, Co-Founder
Nick Assendelft
Past Vice President, Co-Founder
Curtis Rogers, MD
Chairman Emeritus, Co-Founder