Simons Foundation

advancing research in basic sciences and mathematics

Staff

  • Maria Adler MBA

    Vice President, Finance Simons Foundation

    Maria Adler joined the foundation in 2002, after spending 10 years working in finance at JP Morgan Chase where she was the Business Manager for the electronic foreign exchange trading suite of products. At the foundation, Ms. Adler is responsible for all aspects of Finance and Human Resources. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Villanova University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.

  • Marta Benedetti PhD

    Associate Director for Research Simons Foundation

    Dr. Marta Benedetti joined the Simons Foundation in 2007. In her role as the Associate Director for Research, she contributes to the evaluation and management of the Foundation’s research portfolio, as well as the planning of new research directions relevant to autism. Prior to joining the Simons Foundation, Dr. Benedetti worked for a number of other health-related foundations in various capacities, including the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (Scientific Manager) and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (consultant). Her scientific research, first at the University of Rome, and then as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Moses Chao at Cornell University Medical College, focused on the structure, function, and signal transduction mechanisms of the nerve growth factor receptor. Subsequently, as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Peter Scheiffele at Columbia University Medical Center, Dr. Benedetti studied the molecular mechanisms of synaptogenesis in the central nervous system. While earning her degree at the University of Rome, she also worked in the field of animal behavior and on the neuropharmacology and neurophysiology of the dopaminergic system. In addition, Dr. Benedetti’s professional experience includes medical writing and editing, and she has translated a number of textbooks and monographs in child neurology, neurobiology and psychiatry from English into Italian.

  • Sascha Brodsky M.S., M.I.A.

    Director of Communications Simons Foundation

    Sascha Brodsky joined the Simons Foundation in 2008. He has more than 15 years of journalism experience working at newspapers, wire services and magazines. Sascha's work has appeared in The New York Times, Newsday, The Irish Times, The New York Post and many other publications. He earned a Masters of Science in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a Masters of International Affairs from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

  • Meghan Criswell

    Administrative Assistant Simons Foundation

    Meghan joined the Simons Foundation in 2008 after working for seven years as an executive assistant at the American Institute of Mathematics in Palo Alto, California. Meghan enjoys being actively involved in community based organizations and events such as the American Cancer Society Relay for Life where she has participated for the past 10 years.

  • Gerald D. Fischbach MD

    Scientific Director Simons Foundation

    Dr. Fischbach joined the Simons Foundation in early 2006 to oversee the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative. Formerly Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences at Columbia University, and former Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the N.I.H. from 1998-2001, Dr. Fischbach received his M.D. degree in 1965 from Cornell University Medical School and interned at the University of Washington Hospital in Seattle. He began his research career at the National Institutes of Health, serving from 1966 – 1973. He subsequently served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, first as Associate Professor of Pharmacology from 1973 – 1978 and then as Professor until 1981. From 1981 – 1990, Dr. Fischbach was the Edison Professor of Neurobiology and Head of the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Washington University School of Medicine. In 1990, he returned to Harvard Medical School where he was the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology and Chairman of the Neurobiology Departments of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital until 1998. Throughout his career, Dr. Fischbach has studied the formation and maintenance of synapses, the contacts between nerve cells and their targets through which information is transferred in the nervous system. He pioneered the use of nerve cell cultures to study the electrophysiology, morphology, and biochemistry of developing nerve – muscle and inter-neuronal synapses. His current research is focused on roles that neurotrophic factors play in determination of neural precursor fate, synapse formation, and neuronal survival. Dr. Fischbach is a past-President of the Society of Neuroscience and serves on several medical and scientific advisory boards. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Science, the Institute of Medicine, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a non-resident Fellow of the Salk Institute.

  • Chris Fleisch B.S.

    Programmer/Analyst Simons Foundation

    Chris Fleisch started at the Simons Foundation in 2007. Prior to joining the Foundation he was the Webmaster for the Greenwood Publishing Group. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2003, where he studied Information Technology.

  • Andrea Gallego B.A.

    Executive Assistant to Marilyn Simons Simons Foundation

    Andrea Gallego joined the Simons Foundation in 2008. Prior to joining the Foundation, Andrea spend 4 years interning for Lehman Brothers and a year working full time. She spent three years at Stony Brook University and one year at the London School of Economics. She is an active volunteer with Imentor and an alumnus of Inroads, Inc. She is also a participant and Team USA member of the USA triathlon association.

  • Adrienne Greenberg BS

    Business Manager Simons Foundation

    Adrienne Tauro-Greenberg joined the Simons Foundation in 2008. In her role as Business Manger she is responsible for vendor and contract management as well as the financial and operational aspects of grants management. Adrienne has over 22 years of experience in business and operations management. Prior to joining the Simons Foundation, she was an Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase, working on the North American Currency and Commodities Trading desk.

    Adrienne received a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and Psychology from Springfield College.

  • Marion Greenup MPH, M.Ed.

    Vice President, Administration Simons Foundation

    Marion Greenup joined the Simons Foundation in 2007 as Vice President for Administration. She is responsible for developing and managing administrative systems and policies to support the Foundation’s programs. Ms. Greenup earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Harriet Sophie Newcomb College, a Masters of Arts in Education in Early Childhood Development from Tulane University, and a Masters of Public Health from Columbia University School of Public Health. She has worked in health and university administration for over 20 years. Most recently, Ms. Greenup was the Administrative Director of the New York University Child Study Center and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Previous appointments include Assistant Vice President of Administration at Columbia University Health Sciences and Department Administrator of Pediatrics at Columbia University. She also served as Senior Vice President of Education and Health Promotion at the March of Dimes, where she led the development of educational programs for consumers and health professionals.

  • Stephen Johnson PhD

    Informatics Director Simons Foundation

    Dr. Johnson completed his doctorate in computer science at New York University. He is currently an associate professor in Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University. His role at the Simons Foundation is to develop and coordinate information systems to support collaborative research in autism. He has spent the last 20 years researching information systems that support collaboration in patient care, clinical research and basic research. Early research focused on creating online medical record systems that enable clinicians to share information during the process of patient care. Currently, Dr. Johnson directs the informatics resource for the Irving Institute at Columbia, developing a large scale system to support collaboration among investigators engaged in clinical and translational research. These projects combine research interests in the sociology of science, linguistics applied to scientific discourse and methods for diffusing new innovations into scientific practice.

  • Apoorva Mandavilli M.S., M.A.

    Executive Editor Simons Foundation

    Apoorva Mandavilli joined the Simons Foundation in 2007.

    In her role as Executive Editor, she manages an interactive website for the foundation with the latest news and information on autism research.

    For the five years prior, Apoorva was senior news editor for the leading biomedical journal Nature Medicine. She has also worked as US news editor of the online publication BioMedNet, as health editor of the website About.com, as a reporter for a weekly newspaper and dabbled in radio journalism. She has a master's in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a second master's in science journalism from New York University. Her work has been featured in a variety of media outlets including Nature, Discover, Technology Review, Women's Health, O The Oprah Magazine and National Public Radio's Science Friday.

  • Amy Pasquariello B.A.

    SFARI Project Manager Simons Foundation

    Amy Pasquariello joined the Simons Foundation in 2007. Prior to joining the Foundation, Amy spent three years working in finance, first at Citigroup Smith Barney in their Private Wealth Management division and then at Renaissance Technologies Corp. in their marketing group. Amy received her B.A. in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

  • Lauren Rath BA

    Receptionist Simons Foundation

    Lauren joined the Simons Foundation in 2007. She graduated with a BA in Psychology and French Literature from Rutgers University in 2006. From October 2006 to May 2007 she taught English in four elementary schools in Tours, France as part of the assistant program run by the French Ministry of Education and the French Embassy. She is fluent in French and fenced at college.

  • John Spiro PhD

    Senior Associate Director for Research Simons Foundation

    Dr. John Spiro joined the Simons Foundation in 2007 as an Associate Director for Research and is involved in all aspects of the Foundation’s research initiatives in the field of autism. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from Haverford College and his PhD from the University of California at San Diego. His thesis was based on work in the laboratory of the late Walter Heiligenberg and his postdoctoral work was with Richard Mooney at Duke University. His research interests were in cellular and systems neuroscience, and he focused on preparations where it was possible to forge links between cellular neurobiology and behavior. In 2000 Dr. Spiro joined Nature Publishing Group as an editor at Nature Neuroscience, a leading neuroscience journal, where he was involved in evaluating research findings across the field of neuroscience, including autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders. In 2004 he joined the prestigious general science journal Nature as a Senior Editor on the biology team, where he oversaw a group of editors responsible for editorial decisions and peer review of manuscripts across all areas of neuroscience—ranging from molecular development to functional imaging and behavior. In addition he gained experience in communicating science with both professional scientists and the public through his involvement in commissioning, editing and writing editorials, book reviews and other material for the journal and related web based resources. Throughout his time as an editor he maintained close ties to the research community by regularly attending meetings and making laboratory visits in the US and abroad.

  • Patricia Weisenfeld MPA

    Director of Family Giving Simons Foundation

    Patty's work at the Simons Foundation involves working with Board, staff, community members and grantees to manage, and enhance, the personal philanthropy of Simons' family members and the discretionary grant making of the Foundation. Patty brings a broad range of experience in not-for-profit management and public service with a focus in public health and organizational development. For the past ten years Patty was based in southeast Asia on assignments with several international organizations. She joined the Simons Foundation in March 2008. Patty holds a BA in Political Science from the State University of Stony Brook and a Masters of Public Administration from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.