Nicole Nolen
Executive Director
N=1 Collaborative

Nicole Nolen is Executive Director of N=1 Collaborative, where she connects the science of Interventional Genetics with the systems that enable scalable practice. Drawing on a background in biotechnology and nonprofit leadership, she fosters the development of shared resources and collaborative networks that enable diverse stakeholders to learn, align, and act collectively.

Having grown up in an ultra-rare disease family in the US Midwest, Nicole brings both personal perspective and a grounded, collaborative approach to her work, along with a deep commitment to creating practical pathways that improve access to individualized medicines for people living with ultra-rare conditions.

Nina Green
Senior Advisor to the Vice President, Technology Innovation and Development Office
Boston Children’s Hospital
Harvard University

Nina Green is an experienced technology transfer professional working chiefly in academic settings. She began her career at Harvard Medical School and in 2001 became the director of Tufts University’s licensing office. After leaving Tufts in 2014, Nina began consulting to Boston-area academic medical centers and research institutions, including Mass General Brigham, Beth Israel Deaconess, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Boston Children’s Hospital, where she currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Vice President, Technology Innovation and Development Office. Nina has significant experience negotiating research and license agreements, and has helped launch numerous research alliances between research institutions and biopharmaceutical companies. She has worked closely with venture capital investors and start-up companies to license early stage innovations, some of which have reached the clinic. Nina’s work with the N1C to enable data sharing among participants is consonant with her passion to help innovators find cures that will benefit patients.

Ashley Kuniholm
Regulatory Affairs Manager
Boston Children’s Hospital
Harvard University

Ashley Kuniholm graduated from Boston University with a BS in Human Physiology. She was an IRB administrator at Boston Children’s Hospital for seven years before transitioning to the Institutional Centers for Clinical and Translational Research: Clinical Research Operations Center as a clinical research project manager. Ashley now serves as the Regulatory Affairs Managers, assisting investigators across the Hospital with their FDA-regulated research and providing regulatory education to the BCH Research Community.

Erin McConnell, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Carleton University

Erin M. McConnell is currently a research scientist in the Laboratory for Aptamer Discovery and Emerging Research (LADDER) at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Her research expertise lies at the intersection of DNA nanotechnology and building DNA-based tools to monitor and improve human health. She completed a B.Sc. in Neuroscience (minor in chemistry) and her Ph.D. in Chemistry, at Carleton University, under the supervision of Dean Maria C. DeRosa. She also trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Yingfu Li at McMaster University, and as a research associate in Prof. Vincent Tabard-Cossa’s lab at the University of Ottawa prior to returning to Carleton University. Additionally, Erin is passionate about science outreach and communication, and is honoured to bring these skills to the N1C.

Margaret Meserve, M.S., CGC
Boston Children’s Hospital

Margaret is a genetic counselor at Boston Children’s Hospital in the Yu Lab. She has always been interested in ways of communicating complicated scientific concepts in accessible language and understanding how people perceive risk. With a background in neuroscience, genetics, and rare disease, she examines therapeutics and genetic concepts from both a scientific and psychological lens. Working in the Yu Lab, Margaret is responsible for evaluating variants and responding to interested physicians and families, as well as maintaining conversations and collaboration with the participants enrolled in studies at BCH.

Emily Sparago
Corporate Alliance Coordinator
N=1 Collaborative

Emily serves as the Corporate Alliance Coordinator at N1C while pursuing her PhD in Biochemistry & Cell Biology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Her role aids in bridging the gap between cutting-edge laboratory research and strategic industry partnerships. Emily’s deep commitment to the rare disease community is driven by her role as caregiver for a loved one living with a rare disease.

Her career is defined by her passion for rare diseases and improving patient care. Currently she is pursuing a doctoral program in innovation and value creation and is the principal of Alliance Partners.

Melody Joy Paine
N1C Corporate Alliance Lead, N=1 Collaborative
Founder & Storyteller Rare Rebels™, Imperfect JOY®

Melody Joy Paine is the Corporate Alliance Lead at N=1 Collaborative, where she drives strategic partnerships and leads communications initiatives across web, design, and CRM infrastructure. She is also the founder of Rare Rebels™, a storytelling platform amplifying the lived experiences of rare disease patients, and Imperfect JOY, where she partners with organizations to create authentic, human-centered narratives.

Winston Yan, M.D., Ph.D.
Founding President, N=1 Collaborative
Director, Center for Genetic Surgery (CGS), Broad Institute