Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Eric Kort—Attending Physician, Pediatrics

Dr. Kort received his B.A in philosophy from Calvin College (National Merit Scholar), his M.S, in epidemiology from Michigan State University, and his M.D. from Michigan State University. In recognition of his academic achievements, he has been inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Medical Society. He has published nearly 40 papers in the fields of molecular epidemiology and gene expression analysis. Dr. Kort has served as Visiting Scientist/Epidemiologist, Laboratory of Analytical, Cellular and Molecular Microscopy, at the Van Andel Research Institute. He is presently a Pediatrics House Officer at a regional children's hospital. Dr. Kort's post-doctoral work focuses on identification of diagnostic and prognostic markers contained within gene expression microarray data derived from cancerous and normal tissues. In addition, deranged signaling pathways and therapeutic targets were identified based on gene expression (including mRNA and miRNA) pattern using both established and novel bioinformatic algorithms.

Mark Wainwright, M.D., Ph.D.—Attending Physician, Neurology; Associate professor of Pediatrics, Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Wainwright received his B.A in philosophy and German, University of London, London, United Kingdom, his doctor of philosophy in neuropharmacology from the University of Chicago and his M.D. from the University of Chicago, Pritzker. Dr. Wainwright was a post-doctoral fellow at Duke University Medical Center in Neuroanesthesia Research (Laboratory of Multidisciplinary Neuroprotection. PI, David Warner MD). Dr. Wainwright is a pediatric neurologist whose clinical practice and research is focused on acute brain injuries. He is the director of the pediatric neurocritical care program at Children's Memorial Hospital and directs the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Pediatric Critical Illness and Injury. In addition to his laboratory research on the role of inflammation in long-term complications of head injury, Dr. Wainwright has led the introduction of bioinformatics research in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's Memorial Hospital. Dr. Wainwright has received numerous awards and honors including the 2009 Department of Pediatrics award for outstanding contributions in clinical activities, the 2008 Department of Pediatrics Faculty Award for outstanding contributions to Research, Education scholarship/research, and the 2008 Department of Pediatrics Faculty Award for outstanding contributions to Research, Education and Clinical Service. Dr. Wainwright's lab is focused on acute brain injury in children, principally perinatal asphyxia, early-life seizures, and traumatic brain injury, with the overall theme being to improve the therapy available for the treatment of acute brain injury in children.

Dr. Craig Webb—Senior Scientific Investigator, Van Andel Research Institute

Dr. Webb received his Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of East Anglia, England, in 1995. He then served as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of George Vande Woude in the Molecular Oncology Section of the Advanced BioScience Laboratories—Basic Research Program at the National Cancer Institute—Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Maryland (1995-1999). Dr. Webb joined VARI as a scientific investigator in October 1999 and was promoted to senior scientific investigator in 2008. Dr. Webb has been issued six patents and has an additional six filed and pending award. Dr. Webb has received numerous awards and honors including the Chairman's Award for Academic Excellence 1988, the Intern Fellowship, the Sandoz Institute for Medical Research (SIMR), and the "Excellence in Translational Medicine Award" for the Journal of Translational Medicine. Dr. Webb's lab focuses on molecular technologies to study how a tumor spreads to distant parts of the body from its original location (metastasis). The staff analyzes very specific cells and microarrays of genes to identify the changes in gene activity between normal cells and tumor cells. Aggressive solid tumor malignancies including cancers of the pancreas, colon and rectum, breast, lung and mesothelium, as well as the study of multiple myeloma cancer, have been the emphasis of current research. Another major project is the design and development of an integrated, biomedical informatics system for data management, analysis, and reporting. Dr. Webb's lab is also involved in community partnerships that include biomarker-driven clinical trials, cutting-edge molecular based diagnostics, and the personalized medicine initiative, with a goal of predicting optimal therapies in patients with cancer.