Meet the Team: Pioneers in SMC3 Research
Dr. Arthur LAnder, MD, Ph.D.
Arthur Lander, MD, PhD, is Chair of the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology at the University of California, Irvine, and Director of the university’s transgenic mouse facility. Dr. Lander is a molecular biologist interested in the development of animal models of developmental disorders. He is the parent of a child who died from complications of CdLS, and is married to Dr. Anne Calof, a CdLS Board member and fellow researcher and professor at UC-Irvine.
Richard Haaland, Ph.D.
Rich is a Research Microbiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta working on HIV prevention strategies. He received his PhD in molecular virology and microbiology from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Rich serves as chair of the CdLS Research Committee and runs with Team CdLS in honor of his brother Joe who passed away in 1982.
Dr. ANTONIE KLINE, MD
Antonie Kline, MD, is the Medical Director of the CdLS Foundation and the Director of Pediatric Genetics at Greater Baltimore Medical Center's Harvey Institute for Human Genetics. She became involved with the Foundation in 1989 while doing her genetics fellowship under Dr. Laird Jackson (see below). Dr. Kline provides consultations to families and is active in clinical research. She started the first CdLS clinic at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
Bonnie Royster
As the Executive Director of CdLS Foundation, she has overall responsibility for the planning, implementation and administration of all Foundation programs and services. Bonnie holds her bachelor’s degree from UMASS at Amherst in Finance. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked to help young people realize their full potential through resilience training, and spent many years as a leader in the customer service industry.
Kiran Polavarapu (Vihaan’s dad)
He spearheads all the medical research, outreach to doctors, scientists, therapists in the area of CdLS and ensures that all this knowledge results in the best possible care and support for Vihaan. Over the last 6 years, he has researched thousands of pages on CdLS, reached out to experts across the world, planned and travelled to several doctors and experts across the United States and has always made sure that Vihaan has access to the most recent medical breakthroughs. Kiran also has to balance a full workload as a Software Engineer and has worked to move mountains to ensure he is able to keep up with the medical research and perform well at work.
Haritha Vasireddy (Vihaan’s Mom)
She is the one who keeps everything together and is the heart of Hope for Vihaan. Her life revolves around driving Vihaan to numerous therapies and making sure he is thriving physically and mentally. Most days start super early with Vihaan needing care, feeding him through his g-tube and ensuring he is up-to-update on his supplements/medications. Most days end very late with putting Vihaan to bed and planning for various therapies the next day. Haritha was working as a Business Analyst before Vihaan was born but over the last few years she is laser focussed on making sure that the home is the best place for Vihaan to grow, play, learn and work through his enormous challenges.