Study Team

Douglas Stewart, MD

Dr. Stewart is a physician-scientist with expertise in internal medicine and medical genetics. His research is focused on characterizing familial cancer syndromes and developing new approaches to reduce the risk of cancer in families with these syndromes.

Andrea M. Gross, MD

Dr. Gross is a pediatric oncologist who focuses on clinical trials research and tumor predisposition syndromes. Her areas of expertise include developing  outcome measures for tumor predisposition syndromes and working with rare disease patient advocates to increase patient engagement in clinical trial design.

Gina Ney, MD, PhD

Dr. Ney is a physician-scientist who is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology. She has a particular interest in the intersection of Ras mutations, metabolic reprogramming, and cell fate decisions.

Marielle E. Yohe, MD, PhD

Dr. Yohe is a physician-scientist whose research focuses on understanding the development of pediatric cancers. She is actively engaged in translational research aimed at targeting signaling pathways downstream of small GTPases, such as RAS, in rhabdomyosarcoma and neuroblastoma.

Sharon A. Savage, MD

Dr. Savage is Chief of the Clinical Genetics Branch and medical advisor to the study; she supervises all genetic studies in the program. Dr. Savage is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology.

Brigitte C. Widemann, MD

Dr. Widemann is Chief of the Pediatric Oncology Branch and medical advisor to the study. Her research interests are in anticancer drug discovery and development moving towards a more rational and targeted approach. She has experience in the application of new molecularly targeted agents to the treatment of childhood cancers such as neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).

Margarita Aryavand, CAPT, USPHS, MSN, CRNP

Ms. Aryavand is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a Captain in the US Public Health Service. She is the lead clinician on the RASopathies study.

Megan Frone, MS, CGC

Ms. Frone is a Genetic Counselor and provides genetic education and counseling to study participants and conducts research in these areas across many protocols.

Maureen Risch, RN, BSN

Ms. Risch is the clinical research nurse for the RASopathies study. She facilitates local specimen collection and coordinates the clinical evaluations for families in the clinic cohort.

Debbie Flamish, MA

Ms. Flamish is a research assistant helping with many logistical aspects of the study.

Stephanie Steinbart, RN, MPH

Ms. Steinbart was a research nurse who served as CGB’s referral nurse. She retired in January 2023 after 22 years of dedication.

Cecilia Higgs, MHS

Ms. Higgs is a Program Manager in the Clinical Genetics Branch. She leads the study management aspects of the RASopathies study.