Scientific Advisory Board

Theresa V. Strong, Ph.D., received a B.S. from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in Medical Genetics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She performed postdoctoral studies at the University of Michigan in the laboratory of Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., studying the molecular basis of cystic fibrosis and Huntington disease. After her postdoc, she returned to the faculty at UAB, where her laboratory focused on developing gene therapy approaches for cancer. She became the Director of UAB’s Vector Production Facility and a Professor in the Department of Medicine. Theresa is one of the founding members of FPWR and has directed FPWR’s grant program since its inception. In October of 2016, she transitioned to a full time position as Director of Research Programs at FPWR. She remains an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Genetics at UAB. She and her husband Jim have four children, including a son with PWS.

Dr. Tony Goldstone M.A., M.D., MRCP, Ph.D. attended medical school at Cambridge and Oxford Universities in the UK, and trained in general medicine, adult endocrinology and diabetes at the Hammersmith, St. Bartholomew’s and Royal London Hospitals in London. He obtained his Ph.D. from Imperial College London on the hypothalamic control of feeding and metabolism. He has researched and published widely on hormonal control of appetite, neuroendocrine, hypothalamic and metabolic abnormalities in obesity and Prader-Willi syndrome, particularly investigating the causes of hyperphagia, through pre-clinical, clinical, post-mortem, genetic, interventional, fat and brain imaging studies. He is currently a Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, and a Consultant Endocrinologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust with specialist adult and paediatric clinics for patients with Prader-Willi syndrome, as well as in-patient and emergency care of patients within Endocrinology, Diabetes and Acute Medicine.

Rachel Wevrick, Ph.D., Professor of Department of Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, received her BSc from Queen’s University and her PhD from the University of Toronto. She performed postdoctoral work at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and at Stanford University. Her research focuses on elucidating the normal function of specific genes in the PWS region (necdin, MAGEL2), and understanding how loss of these genes contributes to the PWS phenotype. She uses mouse models to determine the role of these genes in nervous system development as well as muscle and endocrine function.

Jim Resnick, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Florida. Dr. Resnick received a B.A. from Colgate University and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, with postdoctoral training at Princeton University. He has a long standing interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms that drive imprinting, and has developed and characterized novel mouse models to understand this process.

Lauren Schwartz, Ph.D. received a B.S. from the University of California, San Diego in Developmental Psychology and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, San Diego/San Diego State Joint Doctoral Program. She did her clinical internship and research fellowship at the University of Washington, Departments of Psychiatry and Rehabilitation Medicine. She has focused her studies and clinical work in the area of adjustment and recovery from disability. She has a particular interest in the impact of disability on families and the interaction between family responses to disability and patient physical and psychological functioning. She is currently on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Medicine in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine where she does clinical work, teaching and research. She and her husband Mark, have two children, including a daughter with PWS. Lauren is one of the founding members of the FPWR and served as President of the FPWR Board of Directors from 2005-2009. 

Maithe Tauber, MD is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toulouse and Chief of Endocrinology and Medical Genetics at the Children Hospital of Toulouse. She directs the Reference Centre for Prader-Willi syndrome in France and is the Chair of the Scientific Council of Prader-Willi France. Her research interests include the management of PWS, including the development and evaluation of new therapies for PWS, such as oxytocin.

Andrew Zinn, M.D., Ph.D. is the Dean of the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the Associate Dean for the Medical Scientist Training Program. Dr. Zinn received a BA from the University of Texas at Austin, a PhD from UTSW Graduate School and an MD from UTSW Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Zinn’s research interest is in genetic disorders of growth and reproduction, including Sim1 deficiency, which is another hyperphagia/obesity syndrome.