Dr. Richard Finnell

Dr. Finnell holds the William T. Butler, M.D. Distinguished Chair and is a Professor in the Departments of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Molecular & Human Genetics and Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. A board-certified medical geneticist, Dr. Finnell has had a distinguished career researching environmentally induced birth defects, focusing on NTDs. He has published extensively on gene-environment interactions as they relate to complex birth defects.
Finnell Lab

Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Ross

M. Elizabeth Ross, MD, PhD, is the Nathan Cummings Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine in Manhattan. She heads the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Development in the Brain and Mind Research Institute and directs the Center for Neurogenetics (CNG) at WCM. Her Laboratory and translational Center study human genomics and genetically driven biological mechanisms leading to developmental disorders of the nervous system including NTDs.
Ross Lab
CNG

Dr. Philip Lupo

Dr. Lupo is a Molecular Epidemiologist, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, and Director of the Epidemiology Program in the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. Dr. Lupo’s research focus is on the epidemiology of pediatric conditions, including congenital anomalies. As a collaborator with the National Birth Defects Prevention Study and Texas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, Dr. Lupo has published extensively on the role of genes and environment on the risk of neural tube defects.
Lupo Lab

Dr. Bermans (Benny) Iskandar

Bermans (“Benny”) Iskandar, MD, is Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. For more than two decades, he has been an active contributor to the NTD conferences, frequently presenting research on the relationship between the folate pathway and central nervous system repair, inspired in part by the lifelong challenges of spina bifida. His clinical expertise in pediatric neurosurgery, particularly in the management of hydrocephalus, has driven sustained efforts to address and reduce the persistent challenge of VP shunt malfunction.
Iskandar Lab

Dr. Irene Zohn

Irene Zohn PhD, is a Principal Investigator in the Center for Genetic Medicine Research at Children’s National Hospital and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Physiology at George Washington University. Dr. Zohn’s research program is focused on the interaction of genes and environment in structural birth defects such as neural tube and congenital heart defects.  We focus on the embryological origins to elucidate the mechanisms mediating both normal and abnormal development. 

Zohn Lab