Leadership team

Chris Wess is currently a finance leader at Organon & Co. He has 20 years of additional experience at Merck and has had responsibilities supporting strategic initiatives, mergers and acquisitions, capital investment, and corporate planning and reporting. Before moving to the pharmaceutical industry, Chris worked in finance and analytics in the media industry for both Dow Jones and Nielsen Media Research. He is a chartered financial analyst with an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BA in English from McDaniel College. Chris is a PKD patient and has been involved with the Foundation for over 10 years.

In his spare time Chris enjoys hiking, sailing, and playing the guitar. He lives in Skillman, New Jersey with his wife Alyson and daughters, Ellie and Georgia.

Amanda Yen is a partner at the Nevada law firm of McDonald Carano. She focuses her practice on Commercial & Complex Litigation and Appellate Law. Amanda handles cases in federal and state courts involving contract disputes, tortious interference, landlord/tenant, fraud and misrepresentation, quiet title and matters involving injunctive relief. Her appellate law practice focuses on representing clients before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Nevada Supreme Court, and Nevada Court of Appeals. Amanda has a successful motion practice and authored the Motions Practice Chapter of the 2021 edition of the Nevada Appellate Practice Manual. Before joining McDonald Carano, Amanda was a judicial law clerk for the United States District Court.

In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of the PKD Foundation, Amanda is a member of the Nevada Commission on Ethics and the Sierra Club. Since 2015, she has also held numerous leadership positions at Meritas, a global network of 185 independent law firms that helps clients do business around the world.

Navin Manglani is a professor of technology at NYU Stern and runs a company in the ventureå capital space. Previously, he worked as a data consultant with a number of companies including Meta (Facebook), NBC, and Dell. Navin has also served on several non-profit boards in a leadership capacity prior to joining the PKD Foundation’s Board of Directors. Navin holds a BA in economics from Yale University (summa cum laude) and an MBA from Columbia Business School where he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma honors society.

Navin is a PKD patient and the disease affects multiple of his extended family members. After a successful transplant, Navin’s uncle, to whom Navin was very close, died of a brain aneurysm (complication of PKD) at the age of 78.

Navin is a native New Yorker and enjoys taking advantage of the unique dining experiences and theater his home city has to offer. He also enjoys playing the cello, piano, and saxophone.

Glenn Frommer is an investor and committed philanthropist to several non-profits. By trade, he is a chemical engineer with an MBA in accounting and was a CPA early in his career. For the first 25 years of his career, he worked for large food and specialty ingredient companies before transitioning to leading portfolio companies owned by private equity firms. In 2014, Glenn co-founded the venture capital firm, Milkbox Partners, which focuses on early-stage, angel, and seed round investing in startup businesses. Glenn has been actively involved with the PKD Foundation and within the PKD community for years. In support of the Foundation in 2022, he cycled 5,400 miles during his 100-day RideForPKD bike ride across America. The RideForPKD raised PKD awareness and nearly $700,000 in research funding for the PKD Foundation. Glenn lives in Vail, Colorado with his wonderful and supportive wife of 40 years, Beth. They have three fantastic adult children and a precious granddaughter. 

Shawna lives in West Virginia and is currently employed as an accountant for Triple H Enterprises, her family owned and operated business. She is a licensed certified public accountant in the State of West Virginia and is a member of the West Virginia Society of CPAs. Shawna received both her master’s of accountancy (MAcc) and bachelors of science in business administration, summa cum laude, from the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University.
Shawna was diagnosed with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease and congenital hepatic fibrosis (ARPKD/CHF) over 20 years ago at the age of four. She has been involved with the PKD Foundation for the past few years and hopes to continue bringing awareness to PKD. A native West Virginian, Shawna has always been passionate about giving back to her community. In college, she worked at the WVU Foundation and lead the WVU Chapter of Global Business Brigades. In her spare time, Shawna enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Dr. Fouad T. Chebib serves as an associate professor, nephrologist, and director of the PKD Center of Excellence and the Discovery and Translational PKD Research Lab at Mayo Clinic Florida. His educational foundation was laid at the American University of Beirut and the University of Balamand in Lebanon, where he earned his medical degree. His postdoctoral research at Harvard University’s Alper Lab deepened his knowledge in molecular nephrology and ion channels. In his clinical and research endeavors, Dr. Chebib is driven by a commitment to better understanding and treating PKD. His efforts were instrumental in establishing the Tolvaptan Clinic at Mayo Clinic, which utilizes the first FDA-approved treatment to decelerate PKD progression. His contributions to major ADPKD clinical trials and the U.S. consensus guidelines on tolvaptan use in ADPKD underscore his dedication to patient care and clinical excellence. His journey with
PKD is personal and he considers his lifetime goal to be ensuring that no one with
ADPKD needs dialysis. 

Compassionate, empathetic, and a fervent advocate for victims of crime, Michael Haggard has dedicated his career to the pursuit of justice on behalf of his clients inside and outside of the courtroom. Michael has secured unprecedented awards for his clients, and as an activist, continuously lobbies for permanent solutions and change through local, statewide, and federal legislation. Devoted to his clients, Michael has received numerous awards for his time and dedication earning him recognition as one of the most highly regarded personal injury attorneys in the country.

Professional achievements aside, Michael is also fiercely dedicated to a myriad of worthy causes. Closest to his heart, however, Michael sits on the PKD Foundations Board of Directors. Passed genetically, this disease has affected many members of his family, as well as Haggard himself. He received a kidney transplant from his brother-in-law in 2016, and now dedicates his time and talents to raising awareness of living donor transplants.

Julie lives in Connecticut where she works as the associate vice president of treatment for a company that provides in home ABA services. She received her master’s of education from Cambridge College where she is currently pursuing her doctorate in applied behavior analysis. When Julie was pregnant with their second son, she and her husband received news that he had signs of ARPKD. This was the first time they had heard of PKD and began educating themselves on the condition.

After Porter passed away from complications related to ARPKD when he was a newborn, they began spreading awareness and fundraising for the PKD Foundation. Julie and her husband went on to have a third child who was also diagnosed with ARPKD. Their oldest child does not have PKD. Julie and her family enjoy traveling as often as they can. Julie is a distance runner and keeps busy training for longer distances between work, school, and family time.

Dr. Patel is a tenured professor and successful mentor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he holds the Yin Quan-Yuen Distinguished Professorship in Nephrology. In 2000, he obtained his doctorate in India and completed his internal medicine residency at Northwestern University and clinical nephrology fellowship at UT Southwestern. Following his clinical training, he was an NIH-funded Physician-Scientist trainee at UT Southwestern, studying kidney genetics and primary cilia biology. As an independent investigator, Dr. Patel and his lab charted a new course in the non-coding RNA field, investigating fundamental aspects of RNA biology in the context of polycystic kidney disease (PKD). This work has directly led to the development of a microRNA-based drug for ADPKD that is currently undergoing human clinical testing. Their studies have been published in multiple top scientific journals. Dr. Patel’s lab has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2009 and has received additional funding from the Department of Defense. He’s active in several important national leadership positions, including serving as Chair on NIH and DOD grant study sections, in addition to his position as Chair of the PKD Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Panel. Dr. Patel is a member of the editorial board for Scientific Reports, a consultant for many pharmaceutical companies, elected to the prestigious American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and was awarded the Distinguished Researcher Award by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN). 

Alix Piccirilli is a change management specialist for the World Bank Group. She spent the last 20 years in the U.S. private sector in the information technology and banking industries in different organizational change management, project management, and learning and development roles.

Alix’s oldest son was diagnosed with ARPKD in 2017. Since then, she’s become a relentless advocate for PKD families. She volunteers in multiple capacities for the PKD Foundation including the ARPKD Task Force, Education Advisory Panel, Advocacy Champions Network, Walk for PKD and is an active member of the PKD in Children Parents’ Chapter Facebook Group.

Currently living in Northern Virginia, she is a native of New York, a military spouse, and mom of two boys and a mini dachshund.

Debora Plunkett is a cybersecurity leader with over 30 years of experience. A former director of information assurance at the National Security Agency, she is principal of Plunkett Associates LLC, a consulting business. Debora served on the National Security Council at the White House in the Administrations of Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush where she developed national cybersecurity policies and programs. She earned an undergraduate degree from Towson University, an MBA from Johns Hopkins University, and a master’s of science in national security strategy from the National War College.
In addition to serving on the PKD Foundation’s Board of Directors, Debora serves on the boards of CACI International, Nationwide Insurance, Mercury Systems, and BlueVoyant. She is a founding member and past chairman of the board of Defending Digital Campaigns, a non-profit entity focused on providing free or low-cost cybersecurity services to federal election campaigns. PKD has impacted Debora’s family for generations, and she is a recent kidney and liver transplant recipient. She has volunteered for the PKD Foundation for several years, serving most recently on the PKD Foundation Patient Advisory Group.

Stu Caplan is currently chief investment officer of Apex Financial Advisors and a partner at AFA Real Estate Partners. He is seasoned investment professional with experience in multiple asset classes including equity, fixed income, hedge funds, and real estate. Previously, he worked for Brickell Capital Management, a multi-family investment office in Miami, Florida, where he managed several portfolios of varied instruments. He began his career with his family’s retail art supply chain based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Stu received his MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and his BSBA in marketing and entrepreneurship, cum laude, from the University of Arizona.

Stu has PKD, which he inherited from his mother who received a transplant in 2018, and as a family, they’ve been involved with the PKD Foundation for over 20 years.

Greg Mainolfi is an ADPKD patient and organ transplant coordinator with nine years of experience working at Infinite Legacy, the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO), serving Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and his Master of Science in Healthcare Administration at University of Maryland Global Campus. He has been an enthusiastic and passionate PKD advocate and volunteer since 2012.

Greg has known about his ADPKD diagnosis from a very young age and was able to embrace it as part of his identity. He supported his mother, Carol, through her PKD journey and eventual kidney transplant donated by his father, Matt, via a paired exchange. Since then, he has dedicated much of his time finding ways to volunteer, advocate, and get involved with all aspects of PKD care and research. His involvement includes participation with the PKD Foundation’s Advocacy Champions Network, serving as a stakeholder reviewer for research grant funding by the PKD Foundation and Department of Defense, and being a patient panel member for University of Maryland’s Center of Excellence program. Greg also enjoys exploring the outdoors, distance running, and bird watching.

Judge Kevin Ryan ( Ret.) spent 30 plus years in the public sector. He started his career as a local, county prosecutor in 1985. In 1996, he was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the San Francisco Municipal Court. In 1998, he was overwhelmingly elected to the bench by the voters of San Francisco and thereafter he became a Superior Court judge. While serving as the presiding judge of the criminal court division, he was nominated to become the United States Attorney for Northern California by President George Bush. Upon unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate, he served as the 48th USA for the NDCA for almost 7 years. He has been recognized for his legal work by many different organizations and publications and he has served on numerous non-profit boards over the years. He also currently serves as an adviser to the Bishop of Oakland on sensitive issues related the diocese. Judge Ryan is married to Anne Klingbeil Ryan, who is a PKD patient and past member of the PKDF Board of Directors; as was his father-in-law, James D. Klingbeil. They live in San Francisco and they have 2 sons and 3 grandchildren.

Victoria Stone has nearly 30 years’ experience in marketing, strategy, communications, business development and partnerships. Her expertise includes crafting strategic marketing plans, spearheading branding initiatives and optimizing product positioning.

Victoria is the CEO & Principal of Decisions with Precision consulting agency, and partners with clients to analyze business challenges, identify growth opportunities and develop actionable strategies for achieving organizational objectives. Victoria also actively contracts as the CMO & Head of Strategy for Sea Salt & Seltzer marketing agency. Prior to these roles, she served as a Global Market Strategist with Boeing, and held leadership roles in healthcare, automotive, marketing agency, real estate and marine industries. Victoria earned both her MBA and Bachelor of Science in Marketing degrees from Regis University.

She is actively engaged as a volunteer, serving as a business mentor at the Innovation Center at Regis University, a member of the Advisory Board for the University of Colorado Women in Leadership program, and a member of the Community Reaction Panel with PKD.

Victoria’s daughter has ADPKD and has been an avid volunteer for the PKD Foundation since 2010.

Dr. Cristen Wathen is an Associate Professor in the Counseling Department at Palo Alto University. Her research and teaching focus on innovative pedagogy and andragogy in both online and in-person settings, group counseling, and the mental wellness needs of individuals living with chronic illness and organ transplantation.

Cristen brings both professional and personal insight to her work. She is a liver and kidney transplant recipient living polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and Caroli syndrome. She co-hosted season one of the Unpacking the Gift of Life podcast, where she shares powerful stories from the transplant community to raise awareness, foster connection, and promote emotional healing.

Cristen is deeply committed to supporting research and advocacy around the emotional and psychological aspects of living with PKD and other chronic conditions. Her background also includes trauma counseling with survivors of child sexual abuse, advising and supporting college students, and working with underserved populations in educational settings.

She earned her master’s degree from Baylor University and her PhD in Counselor Education from Idaho State University. Prior to her current role, she was an Assistant Professor at Montana State University for four years. Cristen has served as President of the Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision and Secretary of the national Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. She is a licensed counselor in California, Montana, and Idaho, and is Board Certified in Telemental Health.