Thomas Bell, MS, PhD, QBRS(ASCP)
Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Bell is the Principal Investigator for the dGTEx BPC. He serves as the primary contact for the BPC between several dGTEx stakeholders including: the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the dGTEx Laboratory Data Analysis Coordinating Center (LDACC). Dr. Bell also leads the dGTEx Executive Committee that is responsible for dGTEx program decisions.

As Chief Scientific Officer at NDRI, Dr. Bell is responsible for strategy development and coordination with internal and external stakeholders, including the NIH, to ensure NDRI’s programs continue to meet the changing needs of the biomedical research community. Dr. Bell has more than 20 years of experience in biomedical research and has taught summer courses at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories for over 10 years. He has published numerous articles, patents, abstracts, and book chapters in the fields of neurophysiology and molecular neuroscience. Dr. Bell completed an NIH-funded training postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translation Therapeutics at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He holds a doctorate from the Division of Biology and Medicine at Brown University.

Melissa VonDran, PhD, QBRS(ASCP)
Senior Vice President, Operations

Dr. VonDran is the co-Principal Investigator for dGTEx and leads management of the dGTEx Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs). Dr. VonDran also aids in the integration of the U-SPEAK (Understanding Parents Expectations and Knowledge related to pediatric organ and tissue donation for research) study at OPOs.

As Senior Vice President of Operations at NDRI, Dr. VonDran oversees the Operations department to ensure that organizational goals are met. She also serves as the Director of NDRI’s College of American Pathologists-accredited biorepository. Dr. VonDran has over 10 years of experience as an academic research investigator. Dr. VonDran earned her doctoral degree in neuroscience and cell biology from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Patrick Van Hoose, PhD
dGTEx Program Manager

Dr. Van Hoose is responsible for management of the dGTEx project. He oversees the donor screening and biospecimen recovery for dGTEx while serving as the primary contact between NDRI and dGTEx OPOs.

Dr. Van Hoose received his doctoral degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2015 from the University of Louisville followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Kentucky and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where his research focused on cardiovascular disease and metabolism. His experience includes laboratory work, research publications, project management and student mentoring.

Emilie Hattrell
dGTEx Program Technician

Emilie Hattrell is the dGTEx Program Technician at NDRI. She works closely with NDRI’s 24/7 Fulfillment Department to monitor OPO screening, recovery, and shipping activities for the dGTEx project. She also manages the day-to-day logistics, data collection, and distribution of biospecimens to dGTEx’s BPC and LDACC. Emilie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of the Sciences.

Melissa Faith, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Faith is a clinical pediatric psychologist specializing in hematology/oncology at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Dr. Faith founded and directs the Psycho-Oncology & Emotional Development Studies (PEDS) research lab at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. The PEDS lab has several ongoing studies, most of which are focused on (1) how we can best promote evidence-based behavioral health interventions in large medical and community centers, (2) how we can best support diverse families to improve health and healthcare equity, and (3) how we can support parents, siblings, and patients when a child is undergoing cancer or blood disorder treatment. Dr. Faith has several ongoing research grants and collaborates with psychologists nationwide.

Raquel Hernandez, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Director, Center for Pediatric Health Equity Research

Dr. Hernandez is an associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is the Director of the Center for Pediatric Health Equity Research at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. The center, launched in 2018, seeks to develop and implement innovative research efforts to promote health equity for children and families that address national and local health priorities. The center focuses on community-informed methods and strategies, emphasizing engaging diverse stakeholders throughout the research project life-cycle. Her research broadly focuses on public health and health disparities among vulnerable populations by utilizing community-based participatory research and qualitative and mixed methods approaches. She is recognized nationally as a health disparities-focused researcher, having recently been designated an NIH Health Disparities Research Institute Clinical Scholar.

Simoné Guambaña, MS, CHES
Project Manager

Simoné Guambaña has over 12 years of experience working with diverse populations bridging communities and professional institutions and has dedicated the last 7+ years to the healthcare field supporting projects both as part of research institutions and community-based organizations.  As a project manager at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital within the Center for Pediatric Health Equity Research, she primarily supports studies devoted to addressing health equity, one of which is the U-SPEAK study. In this role, she provides administrative oversight for the project and works to enhance processes by sharing her perspective based on her personal and professional background.

Simoné has a Master of Science in Community Health and a background in the education field. She believes this work is grounded in an area of importance for advancing a responsible and culturally-sensitive approach to research and is fortunate to be a contributing member of the study team.