Senior Management Team

Nedra Whitehead, PhD, CGC

Dr. Whitehead is the principal investigator for the North Carolina MD STARnet project. She is an epidemiologist and a board-certified genetic counselor with extensive experience with public health surveillance and with public health issues associated with rare and genetic disorders. She has led projects on the feasibility of linking registries and surveillance projects to expand muscular dystrophy surveillance beyond Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy and on public health issues related to muscular dystrophy. Dr. Whitehead hopes that the North Carolina MD STARnet project will broaden knowledge of the prevalence and impact of muscular dystrophy among minority populations.

James F. Howard, Jr. MD

Dr. Howard is the principal site investigator for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill MD STARnet project. He is a board-certified neurologist and the former Chief of the Neuromuscular Division at UNC Hospitals with clinical and research expertise in neuromuscular disorders. He has extensive experience in clinical trials pertaining to these disorders including the muscular dystrophies. Dr. Howard believes that the North Carolina MD STARnet project will further our knowledge of muscular dystrophy in our communities and identify potential barriers to health care.

Steve Erickson, PhD

Dr Erickson is a research statistician at RTI International and serves as biostatistician for the North Carolina MD STARnet site. He is also the co-lead of MD STARnet's Data Coordinating Center, which pools and organizes data from each of the MD STARnet locations. Dr Erickson has broad experience in researching muscular dystrophies, birth defects, blood cancers, and autoimmune disease.

Other Team Members

Linda Andrews, BS

Ms. Andrews is a database programmer/data analyst at RTI International. She has more than 23 years of experience working with database design, database applications, and data management. She serves as the lead programmer for the MD STARnet's Data Coordinating Center, which supports a number of database applications used in the network. Her goal is to efficiently and accurately compile the data used by MD researchers.

Jennifer Beverly, MPH

Ms. Beverly is an abstractor for MD STARnet. She is a nurse with years of clinical and research experience. She hopes the information we collect with the MD StarNet project will help the individuals and families affected by muscular dystrophy obtain a standardized care and access to needed resources.

Mike Enger, BS

Mr. Enger is an abstractor for MD STARnet. He has previous experience in healthcare consulting and managing orthopedic surgeries. He hopes to make a beneficial contribution to both the project and those suffering with MD through accurate data collection.

Barbara Do, MSPH

Ms. Do is a research statistician for the North Carolina MD STARnet project. She received her Master's of Science in Public Health with a concentration in Biostatistics and has extensive experience studying chronic diseases. She believes the MD STARnet project will help identify trends within the community and hopes it will aid in the development of more effective treatment options.

Christine Hill, MPA

Ms. Hill is the study coordinator and an abstractor for MD STARnet. She has several years of experience conducting medical record abstraction and record review for maternal/child health surveillance studies. She hopes to be able to make a valuable contribution by collecting relevant data on the prevalence of muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular disorders within the Piedmont region of North Carolina.

Anne-Lyne Verella, MPH

Ms. Verella is an abstractor for MD STARnet. She has experience in genetic disorders research and public health surveillance systems. She hopes the MD STARnet project will further our knowledge of muscular dystrophy, improved clinical management, and lead to the development of new treatments.

Amy Moore, PhD

Dr. Moore is a co-investigator. MD STARnet is her first project involving muscular dystrophy, and she hopes this project will improve the health care received by individuals with muscular dystrophy and reduce health disparities. Her past research has involved a broad range of chronic diseases.

Holly Peay, PhD, CGC

Dr. Peay is a co-investigator and project director. She has a long history of patient/caregiver engaged research and specific experience working with the Duchenne and Becker MD community. Dr. Peay hopes for MD STARnet include research that leads to improved clinical management and speeds up the development of new treatments.

Tom Spagnardi, BS

Mr. Spagnardi is a Research Systems Analyst with RTI International. He has worked as an IT professional for 20 years, and in clinical research for 10 years. He draws on that experience to serve as the Data Manager for MD STARnet’s data coordinating center, and is hopeful that the MD STARnet project will help bring new treatments and an improved quality of life for patients living with muscular dystrophy.

Matt Westlake, MS

Mr. Westlake is a research statistician for the North Carolina MD STARnet project. He has a MS in Bioinformatics and BS in Statistics from North Carolina State University and has been with RTI since 1999. He has worked with many forms of medical data, community health, genetic and protein data, and sampling data, and is well versed in the use of SAS for these activities. Through MD STARnet he hopes to support unlocking better understanding of disease and new treatments.