The MEND-HD study is seeking participants for a fully remote trial

Dr. Adams is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Movement Disorders specialist at the University of Rochester and Associate Director of the Center for Health + Technology.  Her research focuses on the use and evaluation of digital health technology, such as wearable sensors, smartphone applications, and telemedicine, in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.  Incorporating these tools into clinical trials may improve outcome measures and facilitate development of therapeutics.

Lori Quinn is Professor of Movement Sciences and Kinesiology, Chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Studies, and Director of the Neurorehabilitation Research Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University.  Her research has focused on evaluating motor control impairments and developing evidence and clinical guidelines for physical activity and exercise-based interventions in people with neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington's disease and Parkinson’s disease. Her work also incorporates use of wearable devices for digital-based assessments and interventions. Dr. Quinn is currently the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy.

Prof. Jeff Hausdorff of Tel Aviv University leads research on improving mobility and reducing fall risk in aging and neurological diseases. His work focuses on gait, cognitive-motor interactions, and wearable sensors to monitor and improve movement in real life. He has developed interventions for Parkinson’s and other conditions and published over 400 papers. His research on gait variability is among the most cited in rehabilitation science. Prof. Hausdorff is internationally recognized for advancing mobility research and has received several major awards.

Jennifer Mammen is an Associate Professor at UMass Dartmouth and a practicing nurse practitioner. Her research explores the experiences of people living with chronic illness, especially Parkinson’s disease, using innovative qualitative methods and symptom mapping. She aims to align outcome measures and digital health tools with what matters most to patients. She is co-PI with Dr. Jamie Adams on multiple qualitative sub-studies, including WATCH-PD, PPMI, GP-FOG, and MEND-HD, and co-chaired an international task force that developed a consensus model for meaningful symptoms in early Parkinson’s disease.

A statistician with expertise in statistical and methodological aspects of clinical research. She works with many of the 100+ clinical trials and observational studies that CHeT Analytics manages and is very proficient with the databases. She also serves as the statistician on active studies, writing and reviewing the study protocol and the statistical analysis plan; performing statistical analyses; and working with the Safety Monitoring Committee. She is meticulous in study development, execution, and analysis, working to ensure rigor in study design, conduct, and presentation of results.

Dr. Braun is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Movement Disorders specialist at the University of Rochester. She previously completed a two-year Movement Disorders fellowship sponsored by the Parkinson’s Foundation. She is passionate about providing excellent clinical care and splits her time between seeing patients with a wide spectrum of movement disorders, participating in clinical research for a variety of trials, and educating medical students, residents, and fellows.  Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters.

Mirinda Tyo, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She has over 20 years of clinical expertise caring for patients with chronic illness. Her research focuses on understanding the experiences of family members impacted by chronic illnesses and the factors that influence their health and wellbeing, such as caregiver burden, caregiver resilience, stress, and stigma. Family caregivers represent a large, underserved population and her research goal is for healthcare providers and policy makers to better understand how to help family caregivers improve their resilience and quality of life, so they can continue with essential caregiving duties.

Dr. Shah is a neurologist, who is completing a 2-year movement disorder fellowship at the University of Rochester that is supported by the Parkison's Foundation Movement Disorder Fellowship award. She will be staying on as a faculty member after completing her fellowship and will be splitting her time between seeing patients with various movement disorders and pursuing clinical research. Her research focuses on (1) the use of novel symptom mapping techniques to validate research tools in Parkinson's and Huntington's disease and (2) the use of medication alerts to improve hospital care of patients with Parkinson’s disease. In her spare time, Dr. Shah also likes to cook, travel, and ready mystery novels.

Sugi Mahes is a Senior Clinical Trial Project Manager for Center for Health + Technology (CHeT) at the University of Rochester.  She has over 10 years of project management expertise in managing and coordinating clinical trials conducted in CHeT, primarily on Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Disease. Sugi holds a BS in Pharmacology and Toxicology from University of Toronto and has a Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) certification from SOCRA.  In her spare time, she enjoys music, yoga and outdoor nature walk.

Meghan Bjalme-Evans is a doctoral student in Motor Learning and Control at Teachers College, Columbia University. She recently completed her masters degree in Neuroscience. Her research focuses on neuroimaging biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease. Meghan has also been involved in a number of research studies evaluating the efficacy and use of wearable devices in neurodegenerative diseases. Outside of her research she enjoys playing piano and tennis.

Jade is a first-year MA student studying Motor Learning and a graduate research assistant in the Neurorehabilitation Research Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University. She completed her BS in Biomedical Engineering from Syracuse University in May 2024. Jade's career goal is to become an human-centered engineer who designs rehabilitation equipment to improve mobility and independence for individuals with neurological conditions. Originally from Albany, New York, Jade enjoys spending time outdoors, especially fishing, hiking, skiing, and swimming.

Natalie Hetrick, MPH, CHES, serves as a Human Subject Research Coordinator at the University of Rochester, where she oversees protocol implementation, regulatory compliance, and subject management for clinical and behavioral research studies. She has extensive experience in participant screening, informed consent processes, and data integrity assurance. With a strong foundation in public health methodology, Natalie contributes to study design execution and supports rigorous, ethical research.

Khue (Kate) Nguyen is a Human Subject Research Specialist with the Center for Health + Technology (CHeT) at the University of Rochester. She oversees and coordinates human subject research activities across clinical, functional, and psychosocial domains. Khue has an academic background in both chemistry and psychology, which she applies to her translational research work. Khue previously served as a research coordinator in oncology at the Wilmot Cancer Institute. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys the arts and baking bagels.

Uyen  has over 7 years of experience in investigational clinical research, with a special focus on neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS). Throughout her career, she’s had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of meaningful projects—ranging from large-scale studies with well-known organizations to smaller, community-focused initiatives. Uyen loves collaborating with dedicated teams to design and manage clinical studies that help advance treatments for these complex conditions.

Hannah Mesmer is a Senior Human Subject Research Specialist for University of Rochester's Movement Disorders division where she conducts observational and clinical trials on Huntington's and Parkinson's disease. Hannah holds a BS in neurobiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and will be completing her MS in clinical investigation in May '25. Born and raised in Rochester, Hannah enjoys biking along the Erie Canal with her fiancé and helping her dad, who is a beekeeper, care for his hives.