Boston Children’s Hospital

Boston Children’s Hospital is home to one of 14 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRCs) — a network of NIH-funded ”centers of excellence”. IDDRCs’ funding comes from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), our nation’s first and foremost sustained effort to prevent and treat disabilities through biomedical and behavioral research. IDDRCs also contribute to the development and implementation of evidence-based practices by evaluating the effectiveness of biological, biochemical, and behavioral interventions; developing assistive technologies; and advancing prenatal diagnosis and newborn screening. Reflecting the capacities of our unique research community, IDDRC Boston focuses its efforts in the areas of Genetics, Genomics and Neuroscience (basic and clinical/translational). Our Center is fully committed to recruiting, supporting, collaborating with, and serving the full spectrum of our diverse population and ensuring that everybody has a place in our research community..

Team Members

Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD

Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD

Director of Translational Research Program and Director of the Translational Neuroscience Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, The Rosamund Stone Zander Chair at Boston Children’s Hospital, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Maya Chopra, MD

Maya Chopra, MD

Director of Translational Genomic Medicine at the Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center (TNC), Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH)

 

Sonal Mahida, MCG

Sonal Mahida, MCG

Licensed Genetic Counselor, Epilepsy Genetics Program at Boston Children’s Hospital

Sonal Mahida joined Boston Children’s Hospital Epilepsy genetics program in June of 2018. Her area of expertise is Neurogenetics. She provides counseling to families seen in BCH’s Epilepsy Genetic Clinical Consultation Program as well as their Neonatal Epilepsy Clinics and Neurogenetics clinics. Her research activities include coordinating and overseeing the KCNQ2 patient registry. Sonal received her BS in Biology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2012 and her Masters in Genetic Counseling from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2014. She worked at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in the Department of Neurogenetics before transitioning to Boston Children’s Hospital in 2018.

Kira Dies, ScM, CGC

Kira Dies, ScM, CGC

Executive Director, Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center