TAMR Officers and Board of Directors
OFFICERS
President: Lorraine Chammah,
BA Biology, BS. MS Nursing
Science teacher, nurse and community activist
Former President Capitol Area Parkinson’s Society
Vice President, Legislative Affairs: Leslie Ribnik, JD, 
Vice President of Community Affairs: Marjorie Gold, JD,
Secretary: Jan Ozias, RN, PH,
Treasurer: A. J. Hernandez
President of the Young Onset group of the Capital Area Parkinson’s Assoc.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carol P. Arnaud
Hugh L. Brady
Attorney at Law
Director, Legislative Lawyering Clinic, University of Texas School of Law
Author, Texas House Practice
William Brinkley, Ph.D., Co-chair – Science Committee
Senior Vice President for Graduate Sciences
Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine
Joe A. Brown
Past president Texans for Advancement of Medical Research
Texas Coordinator, Parkinson’s Action Network
Board of Directors, Houston Area Parkinson’s Society
Nina Brown, Communication Committee
Texas Coordinator, Parkinson’s Action Network
Vice President, Board of Directors, Houston Area Parkinson’s Society
Secretary – The Alliance for Medical Research
Mark Davis, CPA,
Member, Board of Directors, Young Onset Parkinson Association
Texas Congressional coordinator Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN)
Retired from British Petroleum after 25 years in commercial and control capacities
Veronica De La Garza, Legislative Committee
Advocacy Director, South Central Region, American Diabetes Association
Larry A. Denner, Ph.D.
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Associate Director of Research, Stark Diabetes Center
Director, McCoy Diabetes Mass Spectrometry Laboratory
Senior Scientist, Sealy Center for Molecular Medicine
Ralph Dittman, MD, MPH, MCSE, Finance Committee
Surgeon, Author and Playwright
Judith L. Haley
Past president, Texans for Advancement of Medical Research
Vice President, Outreach Chair, Executive Board, JDRF Houston/Gulf Coast Chapter
Vice Chair, Texas Diabetes Council
Rick Hayley
Three-time Governor Appointee to the Texas Diabetes Council.
Federal Legislative Ambassador of the American Cancer Society.
Experimental islet cell and stem cell recipient patient with type 1 diabetes.
Former Board Member of the Coastal Bend Chapter of the American Diabetes Association.
J. Maxine Jenks, Ph.D., J.D.
Attorney and author
Board member, Capital Area Parkinson’s Society, Austin, Texas
Charter member, Riverbend Church
Shaina Johnson
Bettie Sue Masters, Ph.D., D.Sc., M.D. (Hon.), Co-chair – Science Committee
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
President, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-2002-2004
Elected Member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies-1996–
Member, Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health-2000-2004
The Robert A. Welch Foundation Distinguished Professor in Chemistry, The Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio-1990–
Women’s Leadership Council of San Antonio-2001-
Member, Advisory Council to the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health-2004-2008
Kathryn McCarter
Scott McCarter
Rebecca K. McCleery,
Past president of Texans for Advancement of Medical Research
Legislative Chair and Board of Directors, Austin Chapter, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
Fellow, Austin Project
Stephen L. McCleery, Legislative Committee
Attorney; Board Member and Fellow, Austin Project
First Assistant District Attorney, Travis County (Retired)
Fellow and Board Member, Austin Project
Volunteer, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
Joan Nichols Ph.d.
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and The Departments of Anesthesiology and Microbiology & Immunology
Assistant Director, Laboratory of Regenerative and Nano-Medicine
Director, AIDS Clinical Trials Support Laboratory
Director, Infectious Diseases Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory
William C. Rainey, M.D. FACS, Science Committee Chair
Chairman, Board of Directors, West Texas Hospital
Member, Board of Directors, Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool
Kathy Rupert
James Shrader
President, Young Onset Parkinson’s of Central Texas (YOPCT)
Board Member, Capitol Area Parkinson’s Society (CAPS)
Texas Congressional Coordinator, Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN)
Advocate, Activist, Parkinsonian
Cheryl Travis
Member, National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Margaret Sampson
Laura Templeton
ADVISORY BOARD
Ellen Arnold
Legislative Committee Chair
Public Affairs Consultant
Volunteer, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Jim Arnold
Public Affairs Consultant
Volunteer, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Joaquin Cortiella, M.D.
Associate Professor of Anesthesiolgy
Director Regenerative and Nano-Meicine Laboratory
Jared Dutton
Allen Feltman
Julie Hiebert
Kitty Hoskins
Board Member & Past President of Capital Area Parkinson’s Society
Terry Huffington
Cayce Kovacs
Alamo Area Parkinson’s Young Onset Support Group AAPSG Facilitator
Parkinson’s Action Network PAN Texas Congressional Coordinator
Stem Cell Action Network SCAN member
Ellen Kraig
Robert Long
Joan Nichols, PhD.
Sharon B Murphy MD
Director, Children’s Cancer Research Institute
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Franelle Rogers
Peggy Romberg
Melinda Rose
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Executive Board Member, Houston
JDRF Texas Senior State Leader Legislation
JDRF On-Line Support Team Member
Kathy Rupert
Margaret Sampson
Kim Schmid
Founder and Webmaster, Corpus Christi Parents Dealing with Diabetes
Richard Taylor
Bradley Stephenson
Larry J. Wright, Legislative Committee
Volunteer, Houston Chapter, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
Patricia Wright,
Executive Board Member, Houston Chapter, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
The members of the TAMR Board, Advisory Board and committees serve as individuals. Their credentials are listed only to demonstrate the members’ areas of expertise.
Read a moving account of Senator Hatch’s long and inspiring search
concerning his decision to support stem cell research from his book,
The "Right to Recover" by Yvonne Perry highlights TAMR's accomplishments in Texas. Click the picture to read the excerpt and to listen to the companion song.