team members
Alissa M. D’Gama, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator Attending Physician, Division of Newborn Medicine Director, Neonatal Neurogenetics Program Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Alissa is a neonatologist and scientist in the Division of Newborn Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she serves as Director of the Neonatal Neurogenetics Program. She is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
Alissa received her AB in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Harvard College in 2011 and then crossed the Charles River to train in the Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program. She received her PhD under the mentorship of Dr. Christopher Walsh from Harvard Medical School through the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program in 2016 and her MD from Harvard Medical School through the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program in 2018. Alissa completed pediatrics residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program on the Accelerated Research Pathway in 2020 and neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship training in the Harvard Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Training Program, where she served as Chief Fellow, in 2024. For her postdoctoral training, Alissa was mentored by Drs. Annapurna Poduri and Timothy Yu at Boston Children’s Hospital. She started her own laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital in 2025.
Outside of the hospital and the lab, Alissa enjoys spending time with her family (including her great pyrenees) and friends, traveling and trying new restaurants, and brewing tea.
Favorite local restaurant: Oleana in Cambridge
Beth R. Sheidley, MS, CGC
Co-Investigator Director, Genetic Counseling, Department of Neurology
Beth is a licensed genetic counselor with over 30 years of experience in clinical genetic counseling, research, and teaching. Her areas of expertise include epilepsy, autism, psychiatric illness, and both prenatal and pediatric genetic counseling. Beth is the Director of Genetic Counseling for the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital and co-founder/past Co-Director of the Epilepsy Genetics Program.
Beth provides genetic counseling to families, supervises the genetic counseling and clinical/clinical research staff, oversees the implementation of research efforts, and is a Co-Investigator for the Gene-STEPS study. She is a founding member and Chair of EpiGC, an international network of genetic counselors who specialize in epilepsy genetics and who are dedicated to the education of both providers and families. Beth also serves on the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board and is the Co-Editor of genetics content for the Epilepsy Foundation’s website.
Beth received her BS from Cornell University in 1990 and her MS in genetic counseling from Brandeis University in 1994. She joined the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital in 2010. Beth also served as Professor of the Practice/Co-Director of Research and Professional Development for the Brandeis University Genetic Counseling Graduate Program from 2005 through June of 2014.
Favorite local restaurant: The Helmand Restaurant in Cambridge
LACEY SMITH, MS, CGC
Co-Investigator Senior Genetic Counseling Program Manager, Epilepsy Genomics, Department of Neurology
Lacey is a clinical and academic genetic counselor who joined the Epilepsy Genetics Program and Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital in May of 2014, where she serves as the Genetic Counseling Program Manager for Epilepsy Genomics. Her research interests aim to better understand the genetic contributions to the epilepsies, particularly through our genome-wide sequencing studies and collaborative gene discovery and phenotyping efforts. She is a coordinator of the ClinGen Epilepsy Sodium Channel Variant Curation Expert Panel, incorporating both gene- and disease-specific expertise into modifying variant classification rules. Lacey is a founding member of EpiGC, an international network of genetic counselors who specialize in epilepsy genetics and who are dedicated to the education of both providers and families, and is a member of the professional advisory board of the Epilepsy Foundation of New England.
Lacey received her BS in Biological Science from the University of Vermont and her MS in Genetic Counseling from Brandeis University.
Favorite local restaurant: Lacey enjoys grabbing tapas at Barcelona in Brookline and Cambridge, or trying out any new vegan spot that opens up!
WANQING SHAO, PHD
Genomic Scientist
Wanqing joined Research Computing at Boston Children's Hospital in 2021 as a Genomic Scientist, where she leads and engages in computational analyses for the Children's Rare Disease Collaborative. Wanqing earned her PhD under the mentorship of Dr. Julia Zeitlinger at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, where she focused on employing genomic approaches to study transcription initiation and RNA polymerase II pausing. She then pursued postdoctoral training at Washington University School of Medicine with Dr. Ting Wang, developing computational methodologies to explore the transcriptional and epigenetic landscapes of transposable elements.
Wanqing is passionate about all facets of computational work and finds immense satisfaction in applying computational approaches to solve intricate biological questions. She has worked closely with Alissa on translational neurogenetics projects since joining BCH.
Outside of work, Wanqing enjoys playing video games, watching YouTube, reading, and spending quality time with her family and her furry companion.
Favorite local restaurant: Jade Garden in Boston
MOHAMED IMRAN, PHD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Imran is a postdoctoral fellow in the D’Gama Lab. He completed his Ph.D. at CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi, in 2024 under the supervision of Dr. Sridhar Sivasubbu and Dr. Vinod Scaria. His doctoral research focused on the genetic epidemiology and variant landscape of monogenic dyslipidemia in the Indian population.
Imran has extensive experience in population genomics, rare disease cohorts, and next-generation sequencing and analysis. He has received formal training in generating zebrafish disease models. He was an active volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in India.
In the D’Gama Lab, Imran’s work focuses on the genomic analysis of early life epilepsies, including mosaic and germline variant identification and interpretation, as well as pharmacogenomic profiling of anti-seizure medications.
Outside of research, Imran enjoys cooking, exploring new restaurants, traveling, and watching movies.
Favorite local restaurant: TBD!
ASHNA SHAH, BS
Research Assistant
Ashna joined the D’Gama Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital in August 2025. She graduated from Northeastern in May 2025 with a BS in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Data Science. In her role, Ashna works with families to enroll patients into neurogenetic research studies and analyzes genetic data to identify any epilepsy-causing variants. She plans to become a physician because she loves working with people and is committed to serving her community.
Outside of work, Ashna enjoys playing tennis, reading new books, exploring Boston, and experimenting with new coffee recipes.
Favorite local restaurant: Sarva Cuisine in Boston
CHLOE NOXON, BA
Research Assistant
Chloe joined the D’Gama Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital in August 2026. She graduated from Williams College in June 2026 with a BA in Biology, where she also served as captain of the Women’s Ice Hockey team. In her role, Chloe connects with families to enroll patients in genetic research studies and analyzes genetic data to identify epilepsy-causing variants. She plans to become a physician in a pediatric specialty because she loves working with kids.
Outside of work, Chloe enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, baking, and going to the beach.
Favorite local restaurant: Capo in Boston
SARA PARIKH, BA
Medical Student
Sara graduated from Saint Louis University in 2024 with a BA in Bioethics and Health Studies and a minor in Biology. She is currently a Master of Bioethics student at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics and a medical student at Kansas City University. Previously, she worked in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Within the D’Gama Lab, she works with the Neonatal Neurogenetics Registry to understand genetic testing patterns among infants admitted to the NICU with neurological conditions.
Outside of school and work, Sara enjoys hosting board game nights, reading, practicing classical dance and singing, and spending as much time as possible outdoors and with friends and family.
Favorite local food spot: Kyo Matcha in Brookline
ALUMNI
Research Assistants
Maya Davis, BA, Next steps: Masters in genetic counseling
Anna Dong, BA, Next steps: Medical school
Lili Mihajlovits, BS, BA, Next steps: Masters in genetic counseling
Katelyn Stone, BS, Next steps: Medical school
Lab Mascots
