Our Senior Officers & Staff

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Senior Staff

The mission and vision of the PFF can only be achieved through the dedication and commitment of the people who have been chosen to lead the PFF team. Below is a list of our Leadership Officers & Senior Staff.

Officers

Scott Staszak - President and Chief Executive Officer

sstaszak@pulmonaryfibrosis.org | 312.265.2182

Scott Staszak has worked in leadership roles for the PFF since 2011. He oversees strategic planning, fundraising, corporate business development, and effective execution of the business plan for the organization, including programmatic execution.

Prior to joining the PFF, Scott worked at The Field Museum of Natural History for nearly ten years as the director of financial operations. Additionally, he taught a course in financial management within the master’s degree program for Arts Administration and Policy at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.

Kate Gates - Chief Operating Officer

Kate Gates has been with the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation since 2016. As the Chief Operating Officer, Kate works closely with the Foundation’s leadership team to carry out the mission, strategy, and business plan of the Foundation. She oversees the teams managing the Foundation’s advocacy program, Care Center Network, education programs, PFF Registry, PFF Scholars, and PFF Summit.

Before joining the PFF, Kate led a team that managed healthcare services for children in foster care in New York City. She also has worked as a case manager for adults with chronic diseases.

Kate has a Master’s in Development Management (MSc) from the London School of Economics and a BA from Taylor University.

Amy Hajari Case, MD, FCCP - Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Amy Case established the ILD program at Georgia Lung Associates, which became part of the Piedmont Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Division in 2013. She leads the Advanced Lung Disease at Piedmont and directs the ILD program, which became part of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s Care Center Network in 2014. Dr. Case also serves as the principal investigator for numerous clinical trials for pulmonary fibrosis.

Jennifer Mefford - Chief Partnerships Officer

jmefford@pulmonaryfibrosis.org | 312.546.4105

Jennifer Mefford leads the Corporate Partnerships team at the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, where she builds high-impact collaborations with pharmaceutical, biotech, and other industry partners to advance research and support PFF patient and healthcare provider programs. She oversees the PFF Corporate Committee and manages corporate sponsorships, service agreements, and grants. Jennifer also directs corporate engagement for the biennial PFF Summit. She has been part of the PFF team since 2013.

Before joining the Foundation, Jennifer spent a decade in the performing arts sector, managing productions, events, and educational initiatives at organizations such as the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans and the Independence Shakespeare Co. in Los Angeles.

She holds a Master’s degree in Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Seth Klein - Chief Development Officer

sklein@pulmonaryfibrosis.org | 312.224.2670

Seth is responsible for overseeing the Fundraising and Marketing operation at the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. He provides leadership in guiding staff members in major and planned giving, events, and annual fund. He manages the planning, development, and execution of the PFF’s marketing, communications, and advertising initiatives.

Previously, Seth spent 15 years at Children’s Memorial Hospital, later Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, in leadership roles in Human Resources as well as Lurie Children’s Foundation, where he was the Vice-President of Operations.

Seth graduated from Ohio University with a BS in Health Care Administration and a Minor in Business.

Janet Bianchetta, CPA - Chief Financial Officer

Jessica Shore, PhD, RN - Chief Scientific Officer

jshore@pulmonaryfibrosis.org | 312.470.6050

Jessica Shore manages the PFF Care Center Network (CCN), supporting centers across the country that specialize in interstitial lung disease to improve the care delivered to patients living with pulmonary fibrosis. She also manages the PFF Registry, a disease registry comprised of patients, families, caregivers, and lung transplant recipients impacted by pulmonary fibrosis and interstitial lung disease. Jessica has been with the PFF since 2020.

Prior to joining the PFF, Jessica directed a clinical research office and taught nursing students at Loyola University Chicago. Her research focused on adherence to medication and community engagement with research.

Jessica started her bedside nursing career in the medical intensive care unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She then transitioned into research nursing and administration at academic medical centers.

Jessica graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Loyola University Chicago and received a PhD at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Medical Team

Sonye Danoff, MD, PhD - Senior Medical Advisor, PFF Care Center Network

Dr. Sonye Danoff is a Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Co-Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Danoff is a specialist in diseases causing fibrosis in the lung, particularly those associated with autoimmune diseases including myositis. She actively participates in national collaborative groups in the study of ILD.

Kevin Flaherty, MD, MS - Steering Committee Chair, PFF Registry

Dr. Kevin Flaherty is the Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program and Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Michigan Health System. His clinical and research interests include lung transplant, COPD, and interstitial lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis. Dr. Flaherty is an active participant on grants and clinical trials related to the study and treatment of patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, particularly idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Joyce Lee, MD, MS - Senior Medical Advisor, Research and Health Care Quality

Dr. Joyce Lee is a Professor of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine and Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She established the University’s ILD program which is now part of the PFF Care Center Network. Dr. Lee has developed clinical-translational research programs with both NIH and non-NIH funded investigator-initiated studies and clinical trials.

Tejaswini Kulkarni, MD, MPH - Senior Medical Advisor, PFF Registry

Dr. Tejaswini Kulkarni is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program. She is a clinician-scientist dedicated to enhancing early diagnosis and optimizing clinical care for patients with ILD, with significant contributions to multicenter clinical trials and research focused on patient-centered outcomes.

Senior Staff

Zoë D. Bubany, MBA - Senior Vice President, Research Grants and PFF Summit

zbubany@pulmonaryfibrosis.org | 520.907.2582

Zoe joined the PFF in 2011 and is responsible for Board of Directors and committee-related projects, governance, management reporting, and logistics. She also manages the PFF’s research program and the peer-review process throughout the entire lifecycle of a research award, and she manages all aspects of the biennial PFF Summit. She works on many cross-departmental initiatives, including the Foundation’s strategic plan and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force.

She has over 25 years of experience working across multiple federal and state regulated organizations and in the private sector in quality control, finance and accounting, audit preparation and management, budgeting, grant writing, staff management, change management, project management, board management, and analytics.