Officers and Staff
- Officers and Staff
- Volunteer Board
- Committees
- Spokespeople
- Amy Award Winners
CORPORATE OFFICERS AND STAFF
President and Executive Director
Audrey Gordon, ESQ.
Working closely with the Board of Directors, officers, staff and volunteers, Ms. Gordon is responsible for ensuring The Progeria Research Foundation's financial growth, program development, and day-to-day management.
Ms. Gordon is a graduate of Tufts University and Northeastern University School of Law, and is an attorney licensed to practice in Massachusetts since 1988 and Florida since 1990. She has extensive civil litigation experience in both states. She is a past Trustee of Temple Beth Shalom in Peabody, Massachusetts, a member of the Peabody Chamber of Commerce, and has served on the Peabody Board of Registrars since 2006. She is the 2004 winner of the North of Boston Business and Professional Women of the Year award for non-profit organizations, and the 2005 recipient of the Mary Upton Ferrin Award for leadership in her community. She was honored as a Community Hero by Jewish Family Services in April 2009.
Medical Director
Leslie B. Gordon, MD, PhD
Leslie B. Gordon, MD, PhD is the co-founder and Medical Director of The Progeria Research Foundation. She is also the mother of a child with Progeria. Dr. Gordon is Principal Investigator overseeing the PRF Diagnostics Testing Program, Cell & Tissue Bank and Medical & Research Database. Dr. Gordon is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, RI, and co-Chair for the Progeria Clinical Drug Trial at Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. Gordon assembled the PRF Genetics Consortium and was among those members who discovered the gene defect in Progeria. She has been recognized for her extraordinary efforts in Progeria research by such prestigious institutions as the Gerontological Society of America, Harvard University, and The Genetic Alliance.
Clerk
Barbara F. Gordon, ESQ.
Barbara F. Gordon earned an Associate's Degree from Boston University School of Business in 1955. She married Burt in 1958 and they have four daughters and seven grandchildren. In 1979 she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Boston University and in 1981 a Master's Degree in Education from Salem State College. In 1995 she earned a Juris Doctor degree from Massachusetts School of Law, and currently has her own practice. She and her husband are long-standing members of Temple Beth Shalom in Peabody, Massachusetts.
Treasurer
Carl Alviti, CPA
Mr. Alviti is a partner at Matrix Financial LLP in Wellesley, Massachusetts. For ten years prior, from 1989 to October of 1999, he provided a variety of tax and accounting services at Kassler & Feuer, PC, a prestigious Boston law firm. From 1984 to 1989 he was the tax/audit supervisor at Lavanthol & Horwath in Boston. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Executive Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator
Susan Rosenblatt
Ms.Rosenblatt's responsibilities include the maintenance of all financial records, coordination of the volunteer and translator programs, and logistical management of PRF's scientific workshops and International Race for
Research.
Susan is a graduate of Tufts University, having earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology in 1976. Susan comes to PRF with lots of non-profit experience, first working as a consultant with the Child Care Circuit, and most recently, as Chapter Administrator for the Southern Merrimack Valley Chapter of Hadassah. She has accrued valuable volunteer experience both in her community as well as her children's schools.
Administrative Assistant and Clinical Trial
Coordinator
Donna Bertko
Ms. Bertko coordinates travel and lodging for families participating in the clinical trials and provides administrative support for the Executive Director, Medical Director, and Executive Assistant.
Donna double majored in Psychology and Legal Studies at Case Western Reserve University earning a Bachelor’s Degree in 1986. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve Law School in 1989. Donna has a background as a civil litigation attorney as well as several years of experience in the non-profit sector. She has worked previously at the Howard Benevolent Society, the National Consumer Law Center and the Peabody Essex Museum.
Donor and Communications Specialist
Lynne MacKenzie
Lynne handles all donor information (thank you letters, change of address, etc.), as well as the Coins to Cure program, Facebook monitoring, Handbook distribution, web store orders and Miracle Maker write-ups. As a lifelong Peabody resident, she loves working at The Progeria Research Foundation's headquarters in her home town.
Lynne is a 1988 graduate of Salem State College, where she majored in English/Art. After working many years as a Marketing Representative for A&M and Virgin Records, she shifted to administration as a Sales Assistant at Epic Records and Office Assistant at Universal Distribution. Raising two children introduced Lynne to all aspects of volunteering and fundraising!