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David F. Arons, JD
President & Chief Executive Officer
David Arons is the President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS). In his current role, David provides leadership and management for NBTS and its venture philanthropy affiliate, the Brain Tumor Investment Fund. Fighting cancer is personal to David as he lost his father to cancer as a teenager. Prior to joining NBTS, he served in leadership and external positions at the American Cancer Society in Minnesota, co-founded the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, and worked at Independent Sector in Washington, D.C. As a litigation attorney, he previously represented patients facing disabilities and serious health conditions. He is the author of several books, including “Power in Policy: A Funder’s Guide to Advocacy and Civic Participation,” “Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy,” and “A Voice for Nonprofits.” David has served on the National Cancer Institute’s Council of Research Advocates and Clinical Trials Advisory Committee. In 2016, David was named to the Blue Ribbon Panel of experts selected to help advise the National Cancer Moonshot, led by former Vice President, now President Biden.
Katie Germain
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Katie Germain is the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the National Brain Tumor Society. Prior to leading marketing and communications efforts for NBTS, Katie oversaw the digital marketing strategy and systems for Rutgers University Foundation for ten years, serving as lead strategist on major fundraising and engagement campaigns, including Rutgers Giving Day, Giving Tuesday, and the Hall of Distinguished Alumni Awards Gala. She previously held communications roles at Peddie School, Saint Peter’s University, and the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
Lauren Hall, CFRE
Chief Strategy and Development Officer
Lauren Hall is the Chief Strategy and Development Officer at the National Brain Tumor Society. A senior development professional with over two decades of experience at some of the world’s leading institutions – including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the University of Pennsylvania, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital – Lauren has served as a frontline fundraiser for three multibillion-dollar campaigns. She has secured transformative funding from individuals, corporations, and foundations, built and managed boards and committees, and led highly successful fundraising teams. She previously served as Assistant Vice President of Development at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she directed fundraising for the neurosciences and played a key role in launching the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases.
Rachael A. Kittleson, MS Ed
Senior Director, Community
Rachael Kittleson is the Senior Director of Community at the National Brain Tumor Society. Rachael brings more than two decades of experience in education and administration, strategic and long-range institutional planning and evaluation, program development, nonprofit leadership, and community volunteer leadership and engagement. Rachael has been a passionate champion and advocate for patients with brain tumors and their care partners, as well as pediatric cancer initiatives, since 2015. Her dedication to serving the brain tumor community is driven by the loss of her daughter Kelsey to glioblastoma in 2017.
Danielle Leach, MPA
Chief of Government Relations & Advocacy
Danielle Leach is the Chief of Community & Government Relations at the National Brain Tumor Society. She brings a track record of success in patient advocacy and education, fundraising, advancing legislative and regulatory policies, stakeholder engagement, and advocating for cancer research. She is a dedicated volunteer and grassroots advocate for cancer and children’s issues, driven by the death of her son Mason at age 5 from a pediatric brain tumor as well as being a sibling of a childhood cancer survivor. Danielle has led several public policy initiatives related to childhood cancer research and funding. She serves as the Co-Chair of National Cancer Institute’s Patient Advocate Steering Committee and as a member of the Pediatric and Adolescent Solid Tumor Steering Committee, and she previously served on NCI’s National Council of Research Advocates and on Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative, as a patient advocate on the Pediatric Cancer Working Group. Danielle was recognized in 2018 with the ASCO Partners in Progress award and the Rare Disease Legislative Advocates “RareVoice” Award.
Marisa Petrillo
Chief People Officer
Marisa Petrillo is the Chief People Officer at the National Brain Tumor Society. Marisa brings more than two decades of experience to her role as a strategic business partner providing guidance on HR policies and procedures, performance management, payroll and benefits administration, employee onboarding and integration, recognition and employee relations, talent acquisition, cybersecurity, IT & systems management. Marisa is committed to working with leadership and staff to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. She has extensive experience in the nonprofit, financial, and creative services sector. Marisa is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Human Capital Institute.
Kirk Tanner, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Senior Vice President, Brain Tumor Investment Fund
Kirk Tanner is the Chief Scientific Officer at the National Brain Tumor Society. Kirk is an oncology research leader with two decades of experience in discovery and development projects and programs resulting in multiple clinical candidate therapies and investigational new drugs. Formerly, he was the Research Oncology Disease Area Expert and Senior Director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. As CSO, Kirk leads the National Brain Tumor Society’s research program that aims to catalyze treatment development through philanthropic investment in medical research, engaging scientists, clinicians, patients, and care partners in research programs. Kirk serves as the Chair of the Glioblastoma Drug Development Summit, the only devoted meeting for large pharma, biotech, and pioneering academics working to unite all stakeholders under a mutual and ambitious objective of accelerating the practical discovery, translation, and clinical development of safe, effective and deliverable therapies to treat glioblastoma. Kirk received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and did post-doctoral training at Oregon Health Sciences University.
Dorothy Whalen, CPA, CGMA, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
In her role as Chief Financial Officer, Dorothy oversees quality control of critical accounting processes including: accounting, purchasing, audits, financial reporting, treasury, investments, insurance, tax and regulatory compliance while ensuring timely, accurate and compliant reporting that support our growth and mission delivery plan.
Prior to joining NBTS, Dorothy served in finance and accounting leadership roles at the Brigham and Women’s Department of Surgery, the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, and Cambridge College. She holds CPA and CGMA credentials, and earned her MBA at Northeastern University.
Thomas Roloff
Chair
Thomas Roloff is the Chair of the National Brain Tumor Society Board of Directors. Formerly, he was the senior vice president of Information Technology & Business Transformation at Dell Technologies Corporation. He also attended the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he earned an MBA. Mr. Roloff was also a vice president of EMC and chief operating officer at EMC Consulting. He has also held senior management positions at Perot Systems and HomeLife Medical. He earned his undergrad degree at Lafayette University and a Master’s degree at Virginia Tech University.
Erica Birke
Vice Chair
Erica Birke is the Vice Chair of the National Brain Tumor Society Board of Directors. She is also the Head of Institutional and Asset Management Marketing at Fidelity Investments. Prior to her current role, Erica was the Head of Communications for Fidelity Institutional, a division of Fidelity Investments and has served other communications roles within the company since 2009. She has a Bachelor of Arts in political science and English from James Madison University. Erica joined the Board in honor of her father who lost his life to glioblastoma, as well as others in her family who have been affected by the disease.
Dave Brown
Treasurer
Dave Brown is the Treasurer of the National Brain Tumor Society Board of Directors. He is the Chief Executive Office of Learning Tree International. He has over 30 years experience in the information industry including roles as the Global Head of Sales and Services for Clarivate Analytics, and the President and Managing Director of Thomson Reuters IP Solutions. He previously served for 10 years as a Board Member of the National Federation of Advanced Information Services. Dave has a bachelor’s degree in history and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the Kenan Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina.
Liz Salmi
Clerk
Liz Salmi is the Clerk of the National Brain Tumor Society Board of Directors. After recovering from treatment for a grade 2 astrocytoma, Liz transformed her communications career to focus on the communication of science and medical research. Today, Liz is Senior Strategist of Research Dissemination for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where her research areas of interest include studying how health care professionals and patients are connecting through digital tools and joining as partners in research. As a science-communications professional with a background in community organizing, Liz is passionate about helping people become more engaged in their health by tapping into their curiosity. Liz is a TEDMED Frontline Scholar and was named “e-Patient of the Year” by the Society for Participatory Medicine.
Co-Founder: G. Bonnie Feldman
The Brain Tumor Society
Co-Founder: Walter & Ellen Newman and David & Nora Plan
National Brain Tumor Foundation