Our Team

Principal Investigator

  • Akiko Shimamura, MD, PhD

    Akiko Shimamura, MD, PhD

    Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School;
    Samuel E. Lux IV Chair in Hematology Oncology;
    Director, Bone Marrow Failure and MDS Program, Dana Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

    Dr. Shimamura directs the Bone Marrow Failure and Myelodysplastic Syndrome Program at Dana Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Her research focuses on translational studies, spanning clinical through basic science investigations to understand the genetic and molecular basis of bone marrow failure, MDS, and leukemia predisposition with the goal of developing more effective and less toxic treatments. 

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Lab Members

  • Chad Harris, BS, MS

    Chad Harris, BS, MS

    LAB MANAGER

    Chad received his BS then MS in Biology/Genetics and Molecular Biology respectively from Ball State University. He then started working in the Lab of David A. Williams MD, where he continues to manage.  He is currently the chair of the Laboratory Safety Group (LSG) of the hospital, and is a member of the Institutional Biosafety Committee as well as the Gene and cell therapy scientific review committee. He is coming to the Shimamura lab to fill a management/technical training role.

  • Felicia Andresen, MD

    Felicia Andresen, MD

    POST-DOCTORA FELLOW

    Felicia received her MD at the Technical University of Munich. She completed her pediatric residency in the Department of Pediatrics at the University Hospital Wuerzburg and in the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the University Medical Center Freiburg. Felicia is interested in bone marrow failure, pediatric MDS, leukemia predisposition and clonal hematopoiesis with a focus on improving patient management and treatment. goes here

  • Helen Reed, MD, MPH

    Clinical Fellow

    Helen received her MD from the University of Pennsylvania and completed internal medicine-pediatrics residency at Baylor College of Medicine followed by pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Hospital. She joined Dr. Shimamura's clinical research team in 2022. Her work is focused on clinical outcomes and malignancy risk in inherited bone marrow failure syndromes as well as clinical trial development for this patient population.

  • Yu Zhou, PhD

    Yu Zhou, PhD

    POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW

    Yu got his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Tulane University. He focused on transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses using bioinformatic tools during his PhD period. He joined the Shimamura Lab in December 2019. Yu loves road trips on vacation.

Clinical Research Team

  • Leah Cheng

    Leah Cheng

    CLINICAL RESEARCH MANAGER

    Leah is a Clinical Research Manager with the Experimental Therapeutics and Interventional Trials group at Boston Children’s Hospital. Starting in 2017, she began working with Dr. Shimamura coordinating the SDS Registry and since then has also become involved in other bone marrow failure registries and interventional trials as well. Leah very much enjoys working with both the SDS Registry patients and the research team.

  • Elizabeth Korn

    Elizabeth received her BS in Biology and Public Health from Brandeis University. She is currently a Clinical Research Assistant where she supports research efforts, facilitates patient interactions, and contributes to the SDS Registry and other related studies. Elizabeth is committed to enhancing patient care, increasing access to medical care for rare diseases, and making meaningful contributions to scientific research.

  • Annabel Cincotta

    Annabel received her BA in Neuroscience & Behavior and Biology from Wesleyan University. As a Clinical Research Assistant, she supports the SDS Registry and other studies focused on bone marrow failure, working closely with clinicians, research staff, and the families they serve. She is dedicated to connecting scientific research with patient care to improve outcomes for patients and families.

Administrative Associate

  • Porscha Wells

    Porscha Wells

    Porscha graduated from Umass Boston with a BA in psychology. Now, she is looking to pursue a career in health care administration. When she's not working she enjoys reading, hanging out with friends and traveling.

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Lab Alumni

John Svenson, PhD
Faculty Associate, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University
 
Rebecca Leary, PhD  
Lab Head in Next Generation Diagnostics at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA    
 
Karyn Austin, MD PhD
Pediatric Cardiology Fellow, Boston Children’s Hospital
 
Karthik Ganapathi, MD PhD
Associate Professor, Laboratory Medicine
UCSF

Trisha Wong, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics,  Hematology/Oncology
Oregon Health Science University

Tomoka Nakamura, MSPH
World Health Organization (WHO)

Michael Zhang, MD PhD
Residency in Radiation Oncology, UCSF

Sioban Keel, MD
Assistant Professor in Hematology, University of
Washington
 
Nicholas Burwick, MD
Assistant Professor of Hematology, University of Washington

Phoenix Ho, MD
Associate Medical Director, Clinical Development
Seattle Genetics
 
Angela Scott, MD  
Pediatrics, Seattle, WA
 
Aaron Seo, MD PhD      
Residency in Radiation Oncology, University of Texas, Austin

Takehito Furuyama, PhD
Writer/Author

Melisa Ruiz-Gutierrez, MD PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine

Elissa Furutani, MD
Medical Director, Keros Therapeutics

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Jonas Guderas

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Chris Reyes

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Ashley Galvin

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Gwen Muscato

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Kiki Ballotti