Membership & Agency Representation

Dr. Koroshetz became the Director of NINDS in June, 2015. Previously, he served as Acting Director beginning October, 2014 and Deputy Director of NINDS under Dr. Story Landis. Together, they directed program planning and budgeting, and oversaw the scientific and administrative functions of the Institute. He has held leadership roles in a number of NIH and NINDS programs including the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative, the Traumatic Brain Injury Center collaborative effort between the NIH intramural program and the Uniformed Health Services University, and the multi-year work to develop and establish the NIH Office of Emergency Care Research to coordinate NIH emergency care research and research training.

Before joining NINDS, Dr. Koroshetz served as Vice Chair of the neurology service and Director of stroke and neurointensive care services at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He was a professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and led neurology resident training at MGH between 1990 and 2007. Over that same period, he co-directed the HMS Neurobiology of Disease Course with Drs. Edward Kravitz and Robert H Brown.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Koroshetz graduated from Georgetown University and received his medical degree from the University of Chicago. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Chicago and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Koroshetz trained in neurology at MGH, after which he did post-doctoral studies in cellular neurophysiology at MGH with Dr. David Corey, and later at the Harvard neurobiology department with Dr. Edward Furshpan, studying mechanisms of excitoxicity and neuroprotection. He joined the neurology staff, first in the Huntington’s Disease (HD) unit, followed by the stroke and neurointensive care service. A major focus of his clinical research career was to develop measures in patients that reflect the underlying biology of their conditions. With the MGH team he discovered increased brain lactate in HD patients using MR spectroscopy. He helped the team to pioneer the use of diffusion/perfusion-weighted MR imaging and CT angiography/perfusion imaging in acute stroke.

Active in the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), Dr. Koroshetz chaired the professional organization’s Public Information Committee, led the AAN’s efforts to establish acute stroke therapy in the US, founded the Stroke Systems Working Group, and was a member of the AAN Board of Directors.

Sharon Hertz, MD is Deputy Director of the Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Hertz is a board certified neurologist who has worked for over a decade on regulatory issues related to analgesic drug products. She has worked with analgesic product development plans and is a leading expert on analgesic clinical trial design. She has been involved in the FDA's assessments of the toxicities associated with many of the analgesic drug classes. She has also participated in the Agency's efforts to address prescription opioid abuse. Dr. Hertz served as a member of the working group that developed the requirements for and reviewed the content of the Extended-Release/Long-Acting opioid REMS. As part of that effort she helped develop the FDA Blueprint for Prescriber Education for Extended-Release and Long-Acting Opioid Analgesics.

Richard Ricciardi, PhD, CRNP is the Health Scientist/Program Director/Project Officer at the Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in Rockville, Maryland. Before joining AHRQ in 2010, Dr. Ricciardi served on active duty for thirty years and had numerous positions with the Department of Defense, working as a Nurse Practitioner, Senior Leader, and Clinical Scientist. Dr. Ricciardi is a registered Pediatric and Family Nurse Practitioner in Maryland and the District of Columbia, and a fellow at the American Academy of Nursing and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. He currently serves on the Interagency Multiple Chronic Conditions Workgroup and the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee.

Martha J. Somerman, DDS, PhD has been Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) since August 2011. Prior to becoming NIDCR director, Dr. Somerman was dean of the University of Washington School of Dentistry (2002 - 2011), professor and chair of the periodontics/prevention and geriatrics at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and professor of pharmacology at the School of Medicine (1991 - 2002), and a faculty member at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (1984 to 1991). Dr. Somerman's research focuses on defining the key regulators controlling the development, maintenance and regeneration of tissues that form the dental-oral-craniofacial complex. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Somerman received a Bachelor's degree in Biology and a D.D.S. from New York University, a Master's degree in Environmental Health from Hunter College, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Rochester. She completed her periodontal residency at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, New York.

Michael Pasternak, Ph.D. served as an Officer on the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association for seven years and is the Founding Trustee of the Facial Pain Research Foundation, which funds research primarily to discover genes that predispose to facial pain, and sponsors international meetings on facial pain. He is a former pain patient and now an advocate for advancing pain research. He has a Ph.D. in education from Michigan State University.

Catherine H. Underwood, MBA, CAE has served as Chief Executive Officer of the American Pain Society since 1999. Under her leadership, the organization has become known as one of the most influential pain management professional societies in the United States and its annual scientific meeting and peer-reviewed publication, The Journal of Pain, have been widely praised for strong, cutting-edge scientific content. A strong motivator and strategic thinker, Ms. Underwood is responsible for all APS operations and its annual $3.5 million budget. During her tenure, APS has initiated three grant programs to increase funding for pain research, and instituted the Clinical Centers of Excellence Program which recognizes the importance of multidisciplinary pain treatment programs in the United States. In addition to her responsibilities with APS, Catherine previously served as executive director of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses and Wound, Ostomy Continence Nurses Society. Prior to joining the Association Management Center, which manages operations for APS, NANN and more than 25 other associations, Catherine was executive vice president at the Palliative Care Center of the North Shore from 1998-1999 and vice president at Northshore University Health System Evanston Hospital from 1991 to 1997.

Jan Favero Chambers is president of the National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Association (NFMCPA), a not for profit, 501c3 organization whose mission is to build a united patient and medical community that will execute advocacy programs regarding access to care, scientific research, diagnosis and treatment for people suffering with fibromyalgia and chronic pain.