Stacey Missmer, Sc.D.
Scientific Director
Stacey Missmer, ScD
Stacey Missmer grew up in Macungie, Pennsylvania and received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Lehigh University. Dr. Missmer is a Harvard University trained reproductive epidemiologist with expertise in creating and maintaining studies that enroll participants and continue to work with them for scientific discovery across many years. Since 1998, she has led endometriosis and pelvic pain investigations, publishing more than 200 peer-reviewed high impact papers focused on women’s health. Dr. Missmer is an Associate Scientist in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, Lecturer in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and Adjunct Professor in Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In 2016, Dr. Missmer was the first faculty member to be endowed through the Global Impact Initiative at Michigan State University and has joined their College of Human Medicine as Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. She is Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the World Endometriosis Research Foundation of America and co-founded the WERF “EPHect” endometriosis international harmonization project. She is also Chair Elect of the Endometriosis Special Interest Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Missmer applies these decades of experience to developing, establishing, and overseeing the Women’s Health Study: from Adolescence to Adulthood.
Outside of work, she recently moved from central Massachusetts to west Michigan with her husband and two children. She spends most of her “free time” in the car or on the sidelines of soccer, lacrosse, or volleyball games or in the audience of plays, concerts, and dance recitals.
Amy DiVasta, M.D., M.M.Sc.
Associate Director (BCH)
Amy DiVasta, MD, MMSc
Amy DiVasta went to Wellesley College with a BA in Psychobiology, and then completed medical school at Tufts University. After a few years on the West Coast for pediatric residency at Stanford, Dr. DiVasta returned to New England for an Adolescent Medicine Fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital…and never left! She is Chief of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and she focuses her clinical work on the health and wellbeing of adolescent girls. Following her nationally funded research on skeletal health in adolescents and young women with anorexia nervosa, Dr. DiVasta has expanded her clinical studies to investigate new treatments for endometriosis. Dr. DiVasta’s particular expertise for the Women’s Health Study: From Adolescence to Adulthood is leading patient protections and designing studies to test new treatments. Outside of work, Dr. DiVasta enjoys running, reading, traveling, and being a mom to her 3 kids.
Kathryn Terry, Sc.D.
Associate Scientific Director (BWH)
Kathryn Terry, ScD
Dr. Kathryn Terry, an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School in Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology and Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, became interested in epidemiology while working in the clinical trials department at Memorial Sloan-Kettering after college. During her doctoral training at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, she straddled the fields of reproductive and cancer epidemiology in her work on genetic variation in hormone receptors and ovarian cancer risk. After graduating in 2005, she pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where she worked with Dr. Stacey Missmer on projects evaluating dietary factors in relation to risk of uterine leiomyoma in addition to her work with other faculty on risk of hormonal factors in relation to reproductive cancers. Dr. Terry has received several foundation grants to evaluate risk factors, genetic variants, and tissue markers in relation to ovarian cancer risk and prognosis. Most recently, she received a four year grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a model for personalized screening for ovarian cancer that leverages personal characteristics and genetic variants to optimize the most promising biomarkers to date. Dr. Terry is active in international collaborative efforts and serves as the chair of the Epidemiology Working Group for the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. In addition, Dr. Terry in a co-investigator on the COMPARE-UF national fibroids registry and teaches a course on reproductive epidemiology and at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is thrilled to serve as the co-scientific director of the Boston Center for Endometriosis where she will assist in oversight of operations at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and contribute scientifically to ongoing and new projects. Her expertise in genetic epidemiology and experience in tissue markers will be an asset to the development of future projects at the Boston Center for Endometriosis. When she’s not working, she likes to run, travel, and spend time with her family.
Michael Rogers, Ph.D.
Associate Scientific Director (BCH)
Michael S. Rogers, PhD
Mike grew up in Minnesota and then went to Brigham Young University where he earned a B.S with University Honors in Molecular Biology. After earning his Ph.D. at the Mayo Clinic, he began postdoctoral training with Dr. Robert D’Amato at Boston Children’s Hospital where he also received significant support and mentoring from Dr. Judah Folkman. At BCH, his early work focused on the characterization of thalidomide analogs with increased activity in multiple myeloma. Two of the molecules identified in this work are now the drugs Actimid and Revlimid; both have strong activity in multiple myeloma. Dr. Rogers has risen through the ranks, being promoted first to Instructor and then Assistant Professor. His major ongoing areas of research all relate to the role of angiogenesis and VEGF in disease pathology, including cancer, corneal neovascularization, and endometriosis. His current endometriosis research focuses on understanding the cause of endometriosis-associated pain and identifying new targets for endometriosis drugs. Outside of his work, Mike enjoys spending time cooking with his wife and their four children.
Cameron Fraer, B.S.N.
Project Coordinator
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Cameron Fraer, BSN
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Email: [email protected] | Phone: 617-732-4242
Cam Fraer has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Utah. She has over 30 years of epidemiologic research experience, serving as Project Manager for several research studies conducted within the Ob/Gyn Epidemiology Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Ms. Fraer oversees the study research assistants, and the day to day operations of the Women’s Health Study: from Adolescence to Adulthood Biorepository. She is a skilled study coordinator given her decades of experience, ensuring procedural consistency, participant support, and valid data collection. Outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with her husband and friends, and enjoying her three young grandchildren.
Jenny Sadler Gallagher, M.P.H.
Project Coordinator
Boston Children’s Hospital
Jenny Sadler Gallagher, MPH
Boston Children’s Hospital
Email: [email protected] | Phone: 617-355-7959
Jenny Sadler Gallagher graduated from Bates College in 2007 with a BA in psychology and earned her Master of Public Health degree at the University of New England in 2015. She joined Boston Children’s Hospital in 2011 working with Dr. Amy DiVasta on studies of skeletal health in adolescents. As the Project Coordinator at Boston Children’s Hospital, Ms. Gallagher works closely with the research assistants and the investigators to oversee the research. She also works on the human subjects protection and financial management of the Boston Center for Endometriosis. Outside of work, Jenny enjoys open water swimming, triathlons, and reading.
Allison Vitonis, Sc.M.
Data and Laboratory Manager
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Allison Vitonis, ScM
Allison Vitonis joined the Ob/Gyn Epidemiology Center (ObEpi) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a teenager, working just a few hours per week. In the years since, then she has contributed to and grew to lead many research studies, including her masters thesis at Harvard University that focused on physical activity and endometriosis. She has worked closely with Dr. Missmer for more than a decade and now is the data and biorepository manager for the Women’s Health Study: from Adolescence to Adulthood and the Director of Statistical Programming for ObEpi. Her contributions focus on the design of the research questionnaires and on-line data entry systems, developing and maintaining the study databases, and coordinating sample selection for laboratory discovery. Ms. Vitonis has two young daughters and spends much of her time outside of the office singing songs from Frozen.
Mary DePari, B.A.
Programmer
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Mary DePari, B.A.
Mary DePari joined the Ob/Gyn Epidemiology Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1996 as a research assistant. She has worked on a wide range of epidemiologic research studies involving women’s health issues ranging from ovarian cancer to mental health in women approaching menopause. She was an integral part of the original team that started the Boston Center for Endometriosis and is currently a data programmer for the Women’s Health Study: from Adolescence to Adulthood, among other ongoing research being conducted at the Ob/Gyn Epidemiology Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Outside of work, Mary enjoys spending time with her family. She is an avid swimmer and enjoys being outside running or cycling.
Ashley Laliberte, M.P.H.
Biostatistician
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Ashley Laliberte, M.P.H.
Ashley graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2020 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and went on to earn her Master of Public Health at Boston University in 2022. While completing her MPH, she found a love for quantitative data that led her to her current biostatistician position here at the Boston Center for Endometriosis. Working for the Women’s Health Study: From Adolescence to Adulthood, Ashley is responsible for statistical programming and data management and analysis. She is very excited to work with such a talented team and looks forward to learning and growing as a researcher. Outside of work, Ashley enjoys reading, traveling, and seeing her favorite bands in concert.
Esther Kim, B.S.
Research Assistant
Boston Children’s Hospital
Esther Kim, B.S.
Email: [email protected]
Esther joined our team in 2021. She is a 2013 graduate of Syracuse University and started her career in television media. Her experience in the communications field was predominantly focused on healthcare and biotech industries. As a research assistant for the Women’s Health Study: From Adolescence to Adulthood, Esther is responsible for working with adolescent and adult women enrolled in the study, processing biological samples, and answering any questions that participants and their families may have. Outside of work, she loves to cycle, travel, read, and enjoys classical music and jazz.
Shruthi Sudhakar, B.A.
Research Assistant
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Shruthi Sudhakar, B.A.
Email: [email protected]
Shruthi graduated from Boston University in 2020 with a B.A in French Studies, and also has certificates in Medical Interpreting and Biotechnology Management. She previously worked on the All of Us Research Program Team at Massachusetts General Hospital before joining the A2A team. She is very excited to be part of such an incredible research group!
Amanda Moraes, B.S.
Research Assistant
Boston Children’s Hospital
Amanda Moraes, B.S.
Email: [email protected]
Amanda graduated from Gordon College with a B.S. in Biology and minors in Chemistry and Kinesiology. During her time at Gordon she completed an honors thesis, Monitoring inter-generational pesticide effects on the development and behavior of Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). Amanda also completed undergraduate research in Gordon’s Biomechanics and Ecology labs while being a teaching assistant for the Mathematics, Kinesiology, and Biology department. At Gordon, Amanda was a player for the women’s tennis team and was involved in other student life activities like working as a Resident Advisor for the office of Student Life. Amanda joined the BCE team as an intern in 2022, and has now transitioned into a Research Assistant in 2023. Outside of work, Amanda loves to play tennis, hike and backpack, camp, and loves to read.