Meet The Team

Founder & President

Michaelle Jinnette

Michaelle established Cure KCNH1 Foundation after her son Tristan was diagnosed with a KCNH1 mutation in 2021. A licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, she brings that same commitment to connection and advocacy to building a foundation from the ground up. What started as one mom's mission has grown into a thriving global community of families, researchers, and supporters.

Scientific Director

Ali Rosenberg, PhD

Ali works directly with our research partners to advance KCNH1 science and translates complex findings into language the broader community can understand and act on. She manages our researcher relationships and leads scientific engagement across the foundation's programs.

Director of Operations and Research

Rica Huang, MPH, MSW

Rica oversees the foundation's day-to-day operations, leads team coordination, and drives key initiatives including our Rare Disease Day campaign, patient registry and the upcoming Paris conference. She built the operational infrastructure that keeps the foundation running and growing.

Community Engagement Coordinator

Breanne Dollar

Breanne is a KCNH1 mom herself, which means she comes to this work with both personal experience and deep understanding of what families navigate. She is the go-to person for family support, registry assistance, and community connection.

Operations Manager

Francesca Amato

Francesca supports the foundation's projects and initiatives across fundraising, events, and communications. She has been instrumental in launching The Channel and keeps our operations moving forward.

Treasurer

Kevin Witt

Kevin co-founded the Cure KCNH1 Foundation for his son Tristan and serves as treasurer, managing its finances. A UCSD and SDSU graduate, he teaches at San Dieguito Academy, leveraging his education background to bring invaluable community support to the cause.

Board Members

Director

Noreen Haider

Noreen has 15 years of financial services experience and is currently Head of Sales for a global investment bank. She holds a BA from Tufts and an MBA from NYU Stern. Leveraging her business background and deep network, Noreen is dedicated to raising funds and finding treatments for children with KCNH1, inspired by her eldest son Rafi. She lives in NYC with her husband and two boys.

Director

Meg Stacker King

Meg joined the board after her daughter was diagnosed with a KCNH1 mutation at 5 weeks old. Holding an applied arts degree, she brings extensive experience in project management, production, and event planning. Meg blends creativity and logistics to produce award-winning events. As a rare-disease mother and advocate, she is deeply committed to nonprofit leadership and driving positive change.

Director

Josh Yelsey

Josh is the Chief Growth Officer for Caravel Autism Health, expanding treatment access for children on the spectrum. He previously spent four years at ATI Physical Therapy overseeing M&A strategy and health system partnerships. He holds an MBA from Chicago Booth and a BA from Yale. Josh lives in Chicago with his wife, Nicole, and their two young boys.

Secretary

James Pearson, MD, JD

Dr. James Pearson earned his law degree from USC Gould in 2009, receiving the Non-Profit Graduate Grant. Driven to help others, he pursued medicine and is now an attending physician at Emanate Health in Southern California. A father of three, Dr. Pearson is dedicated to advocating for research into KCNH1-related disorders to improve patient lives.

Director

Amy Finnigan

Amy is a senior IT leader at a pharmaceutical company specializing in therapies for rare and ultrarare genetic disorders. She fosters strong IT and stakeholder collaboration to accelerate pre-clinical drug development and clinical trials. With a background in International Public Health, Amy combines deep analytical skills with a mission to save lives.

Strategy and Operations Advisor

Alison McKnight

Alison has spent nearly two decades leading global health initiatives at the CDC. Now a healthcare strategy and operations consultant, she helps organizations improve efficiency and patient outcomes. Alison holds a BA and MPA from the University of Pittsburgh and is dedicated to advancing research and care for children with KCNH1-related conditions.

Advisors

Scientific Advisor

Luis Pardo

Luis A. Pardo leads a research group on ion channels in cancer at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. His team studies how potassium channels control cell proliferation and migration, focusing on tumor progression. He primarily targets the KCNH1 channel, investigating its properties in health and disease to discover new therapeutic interventions.

Scientific Advisor

Alfred George

Dr. George is the Alfred Newton Richards Professor, Chair of Pharmacology, and Director of the Center for Pharmacogenomics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. A pioneer in channelopathies, he focuses on genetic disorders of membrane excitability caused by voltage-gated ion channel mutations, such as epilepsy. He also directs the NINDS-funded Channelopathy.

Scientific Advisor

Tracy Gertler

Tracy is an Attending Neurologist at Lurie Children's Hospital and an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University. Her research aims to understand how genetic ion channel variants in early-onset epilepsy alter channel biophysics, disrupt intrinsic neuronal excitability in patient-derived neurons, and cause circuit-level disruptions in animal models.

Scientific Advisor

Niklas Schwarz

Niklas is a research fellow at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (University of Tübingen). After earning his MD and a PhD in Neuroscience, he focused on human model systems. He currently analyzes how mutations in epilepsy-causing genes, including KCNA2, KCNH1, and STX1B, alter function, aiming to identify new precision treatments.

Scientific Advisor

Helen Chen

Helen is a senior scientist in Dr. Heather Mefford’s group at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. A cell biologist with 13 years of experience in stem cells and neurobiology, she investigates rare pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders. She specializes in disease modeling, organoid cultures, and high-throughput screens to test novel precision therapies.

Research Assistant

Esther Cha

Esther is a medical student at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where she earned her undergraduate degrees in Neuroscience and Psychology. She also serves as a research assistant in the George Laboratory, focusing her research on the KCNH1 gene and other gated ion channel mutations associated with genetic disorders like epilepsy.