Volunteer Board

After serving for 14 years at the March of Dimes National Office, where he was the Senior Vice President of Chapter Programs and Deputy Medical Office, Dr. Berns became President and CEO of the NICHQ (National Institute for Children’s Health Quality) in 2015, an independent, nonprofit organization working to improve children’s health. In November 2019, he was elected as chair of the Advisory Panel on Rare Disease for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Scott is a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric emergency physician. He is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Clinical Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Brown School of Public Health in Providence, RI. He earned a masters of public health from the Harvard School of Public Health with a concentration in health, policy and management, and completed a one-year White House Fellowship where he served as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

Scott has received the Willis Wingert Award for excellence in research in pediatric emergency medicine from the American Academy of Pediatrics, a national award from the National Perinatal Association, a public health service award from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the 2015 Impact Award from the White House Fellows Foundation & Association.

Ms. Ballack is a partner in the Silicon Valley office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP. She has extensive experience as an intellectual property transactional attorney, with emphasis on representing technology companies, particularly in the computer, internet, semiconductor, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Karen represents clients in connection with technology and intellectual property alliances and transactions, including research and development collaborations, licensing matters, corporate partnering transactions, and commercialization arrangements regarding products and services. Karen is often engaged as a guest speaker on these topics. She also serves on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, Diversity Committee and Women@Weil Leadership Committee and is a member of the Silicon Valley office’s Hiring Committee.

Ms. Bresnick is Co-Chair of the Global Life Sciences Practice for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and is resident in the New York Office. She specializes in patent litigation, particularly in the areas of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biotechnology. Ms. Bresnick also counsels clients on intellectual property management. She teaches Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation at Rutgers University School of Law, and is a frequent invited speaker on topics pertinent to the life sciences industries. She is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark office.

Paula is the Manager of Accounting and Financial Reporting at The Perkins School for the Blind.  Prior to this role she was the Senior Accountant at Egan Legacy Partners, a private equity firm, reviewing and managing the finance and accounting needs of companies owned in the portfolio.  Previous positions include Assistant Professor of Accounting at Dean College, accountant with Citrin Cooperman (formerly Kirkland Albrecht & Fredrickson, P.C.) providing accounting and tax services to individuals and small businesses. She also worked as the Director of Corporate Accounting for Dunkin’ Donuts managing financial reporting and the budgeting process. She earned an M.B.A from Providence College and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

After 20 years as Director of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital focused on the development and clinical translation of novel targeted and gene therapies for children with brain cancer, progeria and other infant heart diseases, Dr. Kieran transitioned to industry and is currently the VP of Clinical Development at Day One Biopharmaceutics, a company focused on the development of targeted drugs for children.

In addition to a PhD in Immunology from the University of Alberta, Canada and two post-doctoral fellowships in molecular biology (Paris, France) and cellular signal transduction (Harvard, Boston), Mark is also a board-certified pediatric hematologist oncologist.

Mark continues to support a number of foundation scientific advisory boards reviewing grants and other funding proposals in additional to a number of educational initiatives. He helped develop and remains on the faculty of the Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt, the largest pediatric cancer hospital in the world and he has a number of other initiatives to support the access of medicines to underserved populations. Mark is also the CEO of Break Even Therapeutics, a 501c3 working to supply essential medicines to at need populations around the world.

John is the President/CEO of Bell-Mark Sales Company, which designs, manufactures and services high-performance coding, marking and printing equipment for the food, medical device and industrial marketplace worldwide. Founded in 1959 by his father, Alfred, Bell-Mark is now a third generation family business headquartered in Pine Brook, New Jersey, with manufacturing facilities in Dover, PA, and sales offices around the globe.

John is a member of the Board of Preakness Hills Country Club and chairs the Tournament Committee there. But most importantly, he is the grandfather of Zoey Penny, diagnosed with Progeria in March 2010 at age 5 months. He and his family have formed Team Zoey, and the New Jersey chapter of PRF, raising funds and awareness in their community and beyond.

Larry Mills was born in San Antonio in 1949. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Corpus Christi where Larry grew up. He is a 1977 graduate of Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi with a BBA in Marketing.

While in Corpus, Larry began working for the Holt Companies and has spent 43 years in various positions with the companies in the areas of parts operations, marketing, sales and human resources. In 1987, he and his family moved to San Antonio.

Currently, Larry is the Executive Vice President of the Holt Companies. These companies are comprised of HOLT CAT, one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers and the four time NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs. His areas of focus include Strategic planning, marketing, leadership development, and organizational development. Additionally, Larry brings practical business sense to the training and development arena and is the founder of Holt Development Services, Inc. He has worked with Dr. Ken Blanchard to help develop a Values Based Leadership approach to business.
Larry serves on the board of directors of the San Antonio Spurs, Clarity Child Guidance Center and Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Foundation. He is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) and Ethics Officers Association.

Larry and his wife, Linda, have been married for 37 years and have two children, David and Jeffrey. His hobbies include collecting and refurbishing classic cars and golf.

Liza Morris is a 20-year veteran of health and science communications. As a strategy and communications consultant, she has worked with organizations to build strategic partnerships; raise awareness in global markets about important science, education and human development issues; create programs to drive fundraising, change perceptions and influence behavior; implement strategies to drive digital conversations; successfully navigate through crisis situations; and establish new programs to measure results. Liza has been working with PRF since 2003.

Kim Paratore is Executive Director of Grateful Friends, a non-profit based in Gloucester, MA that provides support to adults living with, or undergoing treatment for, cancer. Kim has been involved as a PRF volunteer since its inception, having chaired the first three Night of Wonder galas (PRF’s major fundraiser), as well as numerous other PRF special events. She has also been involved in dozens of fundraising efforts for other charities and her two sons’ schools, organizing races, auctions and dinners. In 2005, Kim was honored with PRF’s Amy Award for her tireless efforts and long-standing commitment to children with Progeria.

Matthew Winters is a Partner at the strategic advisory firm Hakluyt & Co., where he leads much of the firm’s US healthcare work out of Washington, DC. Prior to joining Hakluyt, Matt spent seven years as a Partner at PWR, a boutique law firm where he provided counsel and strategic advice to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and nonprofit organizations, on an array of legal, regulatory, business, and public policy matters. Previously, Matt served in several senior roles in the Obama Administration, including as Deputy Special Counsel to the President in the White House Counsel’s Office, and as Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Energy’s $50 billion clean energy investment fund. He also worked for several years as an associate at the law firm of Williams & Connolly.

Matt has a B.A. from Northwestern University, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a James Kent Scholar and Treasurer and Senior Editor of the Columbia Law Review. Click here to find him on LinkedIn.