Board of Directors

 

Mari Maeda Ph.D.

Mari is the director and founder of Canine Cancer Alliance.  Prior to starting CCA, she led research initiatives at DARPA, the R&D arm of the Department of Defense.  After losing all three family dogs to cancer, she switched her focus to canine cancer research.

In addition to running the CCA, Mari regularly volunteers with the Magic Bullet Fund, which supports people who can't afford cancer therapy for their dogs and cats.  She lives outside Seattle with her family.  She holds Ph.D. from MIT.

 

Jim Gimlett Ph.D.

Jim has an extensive background in R&D and commercialization.  He served as a program manager for DARPA's Biological Technology Office (BTO) and Defense Sciences Office (DSO), working on technologies related to monitoring, modeling, and modulation methodologies applied to immunology; new therapeutics for infectious disease; advanced machine learning and AI; and atomic and nuclear physics. Jim was the co-founder of Network Elements, Inc., and also worked as a researcher at Telcordia, Tektronix, and the Swiss Institute of Nuclear Research.  He received his Ph.D. in physics from CalTech.     

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Jordan Katzman

Jordan is the co-founder of a teledentistry company that improves access to and affordability of teeth straightening. He joined the Canine Cancer Alliance in 2022 after losing his soul dog Simba to cancer. The treatment options for Simba were so limited at the time, that Jordan felt the urgency to help accelerate more innovative therapies and ultimately find a cure.

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Sri Kumar Ph.D.

Sri's background spans research in academia, nonprofit labs, and government. After leaving his tenured position in academia, he worked for NIST and then joined DARPA, launching the first biological technology programs at the agency.   He is currently an independent consultant.

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Samuel Earp Ph.D.

Sam has spent his career in R&D, working in academia and with the government, forming and guiding teams tackling some of the most pressing national security problems.   He has managed projects spanning a wide range of scientific and technology areas, but he is particularly known for his expertise in statistical signal processing and complex system analysis.  He loves animals, especially dogs. He hopes to contribute to ridding the canine world of this serious disease.

 

Howard Rudat

Howard is a 29-year Army veteran, retiring as a Colonel in 2009.  He then founded MAPPS, Inc., a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business focused on providing advanced technologies to today's military forces.  A lifelong dog owner, Howard faced the challenges of pet health issues when his Westie contracted Sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS), a condition that causes rapid and irreversible blindness.  Howard worked tirelessly to seek out research trials in an attempt to restore Freddy's sight.

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Tai Truong

Tai is the co-founder and the President of Securigence, a company specializing in cybersecurity and systems engineering. Tai earned a Bachelor’s Degree with honors in Network Engineering from Strayer University. Tai is passionate about animal welfare and also about giving back and creating opportunities for those less privileged. 

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Norm Whitaker Ph.D.

Norm was the head of Microsoft Research Special Projects, where his team advanced projects, including Undersea Data Center and quantum computing. Before that, he was the Deputy Director of DARPA's Information Innovation Office and was responsible for high-impact programs, including the autonomous vehicle Grand Challenge and Urban Challenge , the Red Balloon Challenge, and the Cyber Grand Challenge. 

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Elizabeth Zuidema

Liz works for Microsoft Research and Incubation Organization.  Liz has been involved in many nonprofits and causes, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Liz holds a BA in international relations from Christopher Newport University in Virginia and is an avid dog lover and animal welfare advocate.

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Scientific Advisory Board

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Seth Pollack MD

Dr. Seth Pollack is the director of the Sarcoma Program at Northwestern University and an expert on immunotherapy strategies for treating patients with sarcoma.  He leads multiple clinical trials with human patients, as well as with canine patients, to improve outcomes with new therapies. Before his appointment at Northwestern University, he was an associate professor at Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center in Seattle.  

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Kevin Choy, DACVIM-Oncology

Dr. Choy specializes in clinical oncology and has participated in many clinical trials and research on improving animal patient care. He practices at the Seattle Veterinary Specialists / Blue Pearl Hospital in Kirkland, WA.

 

Mark Mamula Ph.D.

Professor Mark Mamula is an immunologist and leads a research team at Yale University School of Medicine, focusing on the mechanism of breaking immune tolerance to self proteins.  His team is also advancing canine cancer therapeutic vaccine research and other innovative immunotherapies combating cancer in dogs.

 

Nate Yoder Ph.D. 

Dr. Nate Yoder is a software engineer at Google Cloud AI. Prior to joining Google, he was a Principal Engineer & Data Scientist at Whistle Labs, where he focused on the application of machine learning methods to activity trackers for dogs. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, where he focused on Structural Health Monitoring. Nate works on various machine-learning topics but is particularly interested in applying machine learning to time series data.

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Jessica Bertout VMD Ph.D. 

Dr. Bertout is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the CASTR Alliance.  She has extensive experience in clinical studies and has a strong commitment to the goal of improving healthcare for all patients, humans and animals.

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Professor Daniel Promislow PhD

Prof Promislow is a biogerontologist and a professor at the University of Washington.  He studies aging through system biology and metabolomics approaches and is a co-director of the Dog Aging Project. 

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Gerald Zyskowski 

Jerry Zyskowski has over 33 years of industry experience with the Boeing Company both in management and engineering. As a SCORE member, he has counseled and provided invaluable guidance to nonprofit and small business managers over the past two decades. 

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