Northwest NeuroSpecialists

Meet Our Research Team

Practice Physicians

Neurology
Jeanette K. Wendt, MD
David Weidman, MD

Neurosurgeons
Richard V. Chua, MD
Timothy K. Putty, MD
Thomas B. Scully, MD

Consultants

William Sibley, MD
NNS is honored to have Dr. Sibley's participation as an evaluating neurologist on many of our Multiple Sclerosis studies. He is one of the leading experts on Multiple Sclerosis in the world with more than 100 publications to his credit. In April 2006, Dr. Sibley was awarded the John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research. This was awarded jointly by the American Academy of Neurology and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He currently is a co-investigator of the MS Viral Study funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Dr. Sibley earned his Doctorate in Medicine from Yale University in 1948.

Katherine T. Vance, PhD
Dr. Vance has served as a consulting Neuropsychologist at NNSCR since 2004. She has served as the Neuropsychologist rater on studies of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment in Multiple Sclerosis. She has been a private practitioner since 1993. She earned her Doctorate in Rehabilitation with minors in Psychology and Anatomy in 1990.

Jill T. Caffrey, PhD
Dr. Caffrey recently joined our team to serve as a Neuropsychologist rater on Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment studies. Dr. Caffrey has been a private practitioner since 1994 and earned her Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Arizona in 1992. During her undergraduate and masters studies, she assisted in research on communication in senility and dementia.

On-Site Staff

Research Leader: Joan Laguna, CCRC
Since 1973, Joan has coordinated more than 175 clinical research trials in neurology and neurosurgery involving Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, post herpetic neuralgia, painful diabetic neuropathy, headaches and migraine, stroke, spinal and brain surgery, imaging, and Multiple Sclerosis. She earned certification by the Academy of Clinical Research Professionals in 2004. Her career has included positions at New York University- Bellevue Medical Center, University of Arizona, University of Southern California, and Neurological Associates of Tucson.

In her position as Research Leader, Joan evaluates potential new studies to determine the feasibility of our site's participation. Joan also serves as the primary study coordinator for our Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Multiple Sclerosis studies. Because of her extensive experience in the research for these diseases, Joan has been certified by many different organizations to conduct many of the rating scales and procedures for these studies.

Study Coordinator: Brian Peterson, CCRC
Since 1990, Brian has coordinated or assisted with more than 160 clinical trials involving Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, post herpetic neuralgia, painful diabetic neuropathy, headaches and migraine epilepsy and seizure disorders, psychosis, depression, stroke, spinal and brain surgery, imaging, and Multiple Sclerosis. He worked at the University of Arizona and Neurological Associates of Tucson before coming to Northwest NeuroSpecialists. Brian earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Arizona in 1996, majoring in Psychology with a minor in Molecular & Cellular Biology & Chemistry. He became a certified clinical research coordinator in 2003.

Brian is the primary coordinator for the studies for migraines, neuropathy and neuralgia, surgery, and epilepsy. He also serves as the back-up coordinator for all other studies.

Psychometrician: Dawn Brown, BA
In 1998, Dawn earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Dance Arts from the University of Arizona. She joined Dr. Wendt's research team in 1999 and focused her research activities on neuropsychology and psychometric testing. She added a graduate certificate in gerontology from the University of Arizona in 2004. She has served as psychometrician or research assistant on over 110 research studies. She has been certified for many of the cognitive and functional evaluations required for Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, and Multiple Sclerosis studies.

Part of Dawn’s time is spent developing and placing recruitment materials for our studies. She maintains our research database of past and potential study participants. Dawn conducts the National Memory Screening Day at our site each November and staffs our display areas at the annual Memory Walk and MS walk. When our sponsors choose to fund participation at local media events such as the Freedom Festival or the Country Music Festival, Dawn is on hand to talk to caregivers and people interested in learning more about our studies.

Regulatory Coordinator: Ginger Sharp, DVM
Since 2002, Dr. Sharp has been involved in over 125 clinical research trials at two sites in various positions: Regulatory Coordinator, Patient Recruitment Director, Marketing Director, and Contract Negotiator and Administrator. Her trial experience includes: neurology, neurosurgery, gastroenterology, urology, endocrinology, rheumatology, cardiovascular and pulmonary disorders, and pain management. She earned her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, Surgery, and Dentistry in 1987 from Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Her years of practice were cut short by injuries from a motor vehicle accident. Prior to her practice years, she worked in a variety of family owned businesses to gain business and customer service experience.

Ginger's primary duty is to maintain the site's regulatory files. She also negotiates the sponsor contracts and budgets, and assists with site marketing and patient recruitment.

Research Assistant: Stephanie Birchard, BS
Stephanie joined NNSCR in April 2008. She brings international experience as a student and customer service representative as well as her interest in medicine to the NNS lab. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Arizona in 2006. She plans to be our fourth research lab assistant in a row to be selected for medical school this Spring.

Stephanie's duties include phlebotomy, ECG's, laboratory sample preparation and shipping, patient scheduling, drug accountability, and data entry. She assists on all of our current research studies.

Meet our research team

Contact Research Site