Board

Kristen serves as President & CEO of National CMV Foundation. She was most recently the Vice President of Account Management for Rosetta, now SapientRazorfish, a multi-service offering, customer-centric, consulting agency. A graduate of the University of Michigan, with an M.A. in Global Marketing Communications & Advertising from Emerson College, Kristen has 13 years in marketing and digital media experience working with several leading global and national brands. She co-founded the National CMV Foundation with her husband John, inspired by their daughter Evelyn Grace, born with congenital CMV. Kristen lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband and two sons.

John turned his passion for football into a career after playing as a linebacker at the University of Michigan while earning his M.A. in Sports Management. John has fourteen seasons of personnel experience in the NFL involved in Scouting for the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, and currently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He co-founded the National CMV Foundation with his wife, Kristen, in an effort to bring attention to this preventable virus in honor of their daughter, Evelyn Grace. John lives in Tampa with his wife, Kristen, and two sons.

Currently serving as General Counsel for the Massachusetts Housing Partnership in Boston, Danielle has had extensive experience with private and public financing sources. Her work in real estate includes helping nonprofits with structuring and financing complex community development transactions. Danielle earned her Masters in Education Policy from Boston College and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, and she has a background with both the US Department of Education and the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Danielle’s goddaughter, born with CMV, provides her with great passion and motivation. She resides in Somerville, Massachusetts with her husband and son.

During his years at the University of Michigan, Grant was a four-year letterman on the university football team and the 2003 team co-captain while earning his undergraduate degree. He spent time as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad before joining Lehman Brothers as an analyst in high yield research. In 2008, he left Lehman to get his MBA in Finance at Columbia University. For the last ten years, Grant was a Managing Director at Blue Ridge Capital, and now serves as Founder and CEO of Hunter Capital. Grant lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and three children.

A graduate of Guntur Medical College in India, Dr. Boppana has been studying the natural history and pathogenesis of CMV for over 20 years. He moved to the USA in 1985, where he completed a residency at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. He has completed fellowships in Immunology (UCSF) and Pediatric Infectious Diseases (UAB). As a Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alabama Birmingham, Dr. Boppana has contributed to 33 publications, with a research focus on the many facets of cytomegalovirus. His work has challenged the dogma that children with congenital CMV born to woman with a primary CMV infection during pregnancy experience most of the disease burden compared to secondary maternal infections.

Sara, co-founder of the Utah CMV Council, was instrumental in the proposal and passage of the Utah CMV law, the first of its kind in the United States. With a B.S. in Special Education, a M.A. in Education Policy Studies, and completing a Ph.D. in Sociobehavioral Epidemiology, she is uniquely positioned to spread awareness and provide support to the CMV community. Following a career with the Office of Special Education Programs at the US Department of Education office of special education, she runs a consulting business to assist state agencies with development and systemic reviews of policy and procedures for early intervention and special education. Her daughter Daisy is deaf due to CMV, diagnosed at 15 months.

Dr. Park graduated from Washington University and is a professor of otolaryngology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He also practices general pediatric otolaryngology (Ear Nose and Throat Specialist) at Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he is co-director of the multidisciplinary hearing assessment clinic. He has over forty publications with several grant awards from the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Deafness Research Foundation, National Organization for Hearing Research, and the National Institutes of Health.

Zack has advised corporations across the energy sector for his entire career, currently serving a Director at PJT Partners, an investment bank headquartered in NYC, where he leads a range of strategic initiatives that include M&A, corporate restructurings, Board advisory, and other structured transactions. His career has included positions in investment banking, consulting, and engineering. Zack received a MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (concentrations in Accounting and Finance) and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Bradley University. His interests extend to performing in a cover rock band, collecting sports memorabilia, weightlifting, and spending time with his wife, Karen, and two children. Zack passionately advocates for CMV awareness and eradication, as his son, Leo, was born with CMV.

Mary is the Executive Director and co-founder of Girls on the Run Twin Cities (GOTR-TC), a non-profit that empowers girls to know and activate their limitless potential and boldly pursue their dreams. Mary holds an M.A. in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and is an alumna of the College of Saint Benedict where she was recently honored with the Decade Award. Prior to serving as Director, Mary worked for the Network for Public Health Law in Saint Paul, and the National Association of Attorneys General in Washington D.C. She lives in Saint Paul with her husband and three children, and served as as co-chair and a founding board member of Minnesota Public Radio’s Generation Listen.