PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council Members

Council members

State ex-officio members

• Amy Benison
  PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council Chair | Commissioner’s Designee
  Program Support Specialist
  Division for Children & Youth with Special Health Needs
  Massachusetts Department of Public Health
   
• Lisa Sheehy
  PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council Chair | Commissioner’s Designee
  Public Benefits & Health Policy Specialist
  Division for Children & Youth with Special Health Needs
  Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Public members

All Advisory Council members have lived experience caring for a family member with PANDAS/PANS or professional experience treating or working with people with PANDAS/PANS.

Council member seats are listed below as they appear in the legislation.

Council member	Affiliation	Council seat
Margaret Chapman, MSN, PNMHCNS-BC	Psychiatric Nurse Mental Health Clinical Specialist—Board Certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry PANS Center	Child psychiatric practitioner
Karen Colwell	Massachusetts Coalition for PANDAS/PANS Legislation	Appointed council member
Sylvia Fogel, MD	Harvard Medical School Lyme & PANS Treatment Center	Appointed council member
John Gaitanis, MD	Hasbro Children’s Hospital Brown Medical School	Health care provider/medical specialist
Sheilah Gauch, LICSW, MEd  PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council Co-Facilitator	Dearborn Academy Massachusetts Coalition for PANDAS/PANS Legislation	Special Educator Administrator
Melissa Glynn-Hyman, LICSW	Private Practice working with P/P families	Licensed social worker
Lisa Grisolia	Look. Foundation	Representative, MA non-profit advocacy organization
Kathleen Maher, MS-PHNA, RN	Massachusetts School Nurse Organization	Representative of a MA professional organization for school nurses
Kelli A Kennedy, MD, FAAP	Healthcare South Hanover Pediatrics	Pediatrician, Shareholder
Mark Pasternack, MD	Massachusetts General Hospital for Children	Physician specializing in infectious diseases
Michelle Pinto, MSN, RN, CNEn	Massachusetts Coalition for PANDAS/PANS Legislation University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth	Parent of a child with PANDAS/PANS
Blake Poggi, MA, CCC-SLP	Mending Minds Foundation National Alliance for PANS/PANDAS Action	Appointed council member
Jennifer M. Vitelli, MBA  PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council Co-Facilitator	Look. Foundation Massachusetts Coalition for PANDAS/PANS Legislation	Parent of a child with PANDAS/PANS
Kyle Williams, MD, PhD	Massachusetts General Hospital for Children	Medical researcher
Yujuan (Julia) Zhang, MD	Tufts Medical Center	Health care provider/medical specialist