Board of Directors
Vince C. Gao
Dr. Vince Gao received his Ph.D. degree in Bioanalytical Chemistry at Northeastern University in Boston, USA in 1989.
After finishing his post-doctoral studies in 1990 at HemaGen, a bio-tech firm, Dr. Gao became a senior research chemist in the company, where he established a GLP bioanalytical laboratory and contributed greatly to IND filings of bio-pharmaceutical products. Dr. Gao joined AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in 1993 as a bioanalytical chemist and study director where he conducted drug discovery, pre- and clinical PK/PD and drug metabolism studies. Dr. Gao co-established GLP MS laboratories within the organization, and he contributed and prepared a NFA filing of a new anti-breast cancer drug, Arimidex, which was approved by the FDA and has been commercially available since 1996.
Dr. Gao joined Applied Biosystems in 1997 as senior LC/MS application specialist. During his tenure at Applied Biosystems, Dr. Gao has played a number of important roles including MS Application and Marketing Manager for North Asia, AB Japan MS Lab Manager and the MS Applications Manager for Asia Pacific.
Dr. Gao has extensive expertise in bioanalytical chemistry for pharmaceutical DMPK, clinical research and diagnosis, natural product characterization, forensic toxicology, agricultural and environmental analysis, and proteomics research. He holds three US patents in analytical chemistry. His biography is in the US Who's Who in the World (1995, 1997). Dr. Gao is on the China Science Talent Development Organization and serves as a Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Young Inventors Association.
Dr. Gao has been appointed as senior technical consultant, guest director and professor at several academic and government research institutions in Asia and the USA, e.g. China Xiehe Hospital Clinical Lab, Chinese Academy of Science Organic Chemistry Institute, China State Drug Administration, China Hainan University, China Chongqing Forensic Research Institute, the US Kronos Health Wariness Co., the US Quest Diagnostics Inc, etc. He has several on-going research collaborations with well-known biotech and pharmaceutical companies and research institutions around the world. Dr. Gao has about 38 publications and has been invited to give more than 200 presentations and seminars worldwide.
Patricia A. Haddad
State Representative Patricia A. Haddad represents the Fifth Bristol district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The Fifth Bristol district includes the towns of Dighton and Somerset and parts of Swansea and Taunton, all in the Country of Bristol.
Ms. Haddad was educated at Mount Saint Mary's Academy and holds a B.S. from Bridgewater State College. Before becoming a legislator she served as an educator. She currently serves in the SouthCoast Business & Professional Women's Association, the Drug-free Schools Advistory Council, the Boy Scouts of America, the Moby Dick Council, the Weir Economic and Industrial Revitalization Corporation and the Health Access Collaborative. Ms. Haddad holds public office in the Somerset Playground & Recreation Commission, the Somerset Democratic Town Committee (Vice-Chair), the Somerset School Committee (Vice-Chair, Chair).
In the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Ms. Haddad serves on the Ways & Means Committee, the Health Care Committee, and the Medicaid Committee. She has previously served as a member of the Human Services & Elder Affairs Committee and the Natural Resources & Agriculture Committee. Ms. Haddad has held special appointments on the Special Committe on Local Aid, the Legislative Commission on Public Housing, the Special Task Force on Local Government, the Special Task Force on the Economy and Workforce Development, the Special Task Force on Medicaid, the Council of State Governments and the Eastern Region-Conference Committee on Energy and the Environment.
Kerry Healey
Kerry Healey served as Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 2003-2007. Healey assumed a broad range of responsibilities in the Romney-Healey administration, including leading the administrations' successful efforts to strengthen drunken driving penalties, establish a witness protection and gang violence prevention program, increase penalties and supervision for sex offenders, and increase protections for victims of child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence. Healey chaired the Governor's Council, the body responsible for the confirmation of judges; the Interagency Council on Homelessness; the Interagency Council on Substance Abuse and Prevention; the Governor's Council on Sexual and Domestic Violence; the Seaport Council, a group responsible for funding port security and development of the maritime economy, and co-chaired the state's five Regional Competitiveness Councils. Healey served as the principal contact for municipal leaders in the Romney-Healey administration. She is most proud of her role in helping to found three Recovery High Schools to provide drug-free learning environments for students in recovery, and in reducing drunk-driving related deaths on Massachusetts' roads thanks to Melanie's Law.
Healey graduated from Harvard College in 1982, and was awarded a Rotary International Scholarship. She earned a Ph.D. in political science and law from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. In 1985, Healey was a visiting researcher in the International and Comparative Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. She continues to pursue her interest in international affairs as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Lieutenant Governor was a Spring Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics and will be a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership in this fall.
Patricia J. Lamarre
"Patty" Lamarre served as the Director of Administration for Jarrett T. Barrios while he was a Massachusetts State Senator. During her tenure at the State House, she assumed a broad range of responsibilities including her role as liaison to the Governor’s Office, federal and state legislative offices and agencies, local officials and the citizens of the Senator’s District which included extensive work with legislation, budget issues, initiatives and public policy. She also worked at MassDevelopment, the state’s economic development authority, and in major Boston law firms for over 25 years.
Aside from her position as a WhizKids Board Member, Patty has been involved in other non-profit work for the past two decades serving as a Board Member, Executive Committee Member and consultant for non-profit organizations such as Helping Hands for Heroes, the Arthritis Foundation and the Anthony Picarello Foundation. She has also been heavily involved with the fundraising efforts of all of the aforementioned organizations.
Richard J. Merrill
Richard Merrill received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Minors in Political Science and Math from the University of Michigan. He holds an M.A. in the Teaching of Science and an Ed.D from the Teachers College at Columbia University. Richard Merrill has served as a lecturer at California State University, Deputy Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair, Inc., and Director of the Northern California Western Nevada Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. He has also served as a Curriculum Specialist for science and various other curriculum areas, Executive Directory of Chemical Education Material Study, and a Chemistry Teacher at various educational institutions in California.
Richard Merrill was a board member of the California Science Teachers Association from 1971-1974. He was the Chairman of the State Conference Planning Committee in 1976 and served in several different positions for the Elementary School Science Association of Northern California from 1974-83 including Secretary from 1976-1981, and President in 1983.
Between 1980 and 1982, Richard Merrill was the Director of the National Science Supervisors Association. He has also been part of the Advisory Committees and Executive Committees for a variety of other organizations including the National Science Teacher's Association, the Science Framework Committee in the California State Department of Education, the American Chemical Society, and the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California at Berkeley.
Richard Merrill has numerous publications and was the recipient of several awards including the Regional Catalyst Award for Excellence in High School Chemistry Teaching from the Manufacturing Chemists Association in 1976, and the Margaret Nicholson Award for Distinguished Service to Science Education, given by the California Science Teachers Association in 1990.
Robert Sackstein, M.D., Ph.D
Robert Sackstein, M.D., Ph.D., is a graduate of Harvard College, and he subsequently earned his M.D. degree and his Ph.D. degree (in Immunology) at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sackstein's clinical specialty is Internal Medicine and Hematology and he is an expert in bone marrow transplantation, a therapeutic procedure which is used to cure leukemias and bone marrow failure, such as in aplastic anemia, and a variety of other malignant diseases and genetic diseases. Dr. Sackstein is also a research scientist who studies the mechanisms by which stem cells proliferate and how the lymphocytes in the body's immune system selectively enter tissues to combat cancer or infection. Dr. Sackstein is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. He is a bone marrow transplant physician at the BWH/DFCI and also serves as the Director of the Translational Research Program in Bone Marrow Transplantation for the Massachusetts General Hospital.