Nancy Van Zant
Executive Director
Nancy holds a BA from Earlham College, Richmond, IN; and an M.S. in Library Science from the University of Illinois. She lives with her husband, Kent, in Brookline, Massachusetts, on the edge of Boston. She is a regular hiker in the Rockies in the summer and a cross-country skier in the winter. Nancy started with the FSH Society in June of 2007 and comes to the Society from a career of leading fundraising at academic medical centers including the National Jewish Center for Medicine and Research (Denver), the Kennedy Krieger Institute (Baltimore), and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston). She has raised funds for many initiatives in biomedical research as well as capital projects, clinical programs, endowed chairs and fellowships. At the Society, Nancy focuses on patient outreach, communication, and fundraising.
Nancy can be contacted through the Society’s Executive & Development office:
FSH Society, Inc.
64 Grove Street
Watertown, MA 02472 USA
(617) 658-7878
(617) 658-7879 fax
e-mail: nancy.vanzant@fshsociety.org
Doris Walsh
Patient Liaison, and Office Manager
Doris joined the FSH Society in February 2011, she comes to us with strong administrative and bookkeeping skills both in non-profit and for profit organizations. Doris can be contacted through the Society’s Executive & Development office:
FSH Society, Inc.
64 Grove Street
Watertown, MA 02472
(617) 658-7877
(617) 658-7879 fax
e-mail: doris.walsh@fshsociety.org
Daniel Paul Perez
President & CEO
Daniel Paul Perez is a graduate of Harvard College. He has an extensive background in software and database design, working on corporate MIS and financial systems, marketing research software and data acquisition. He was chief architect and designer of Oracle's multi-dimensional database application and worked on the Human Genome Project in Massachusetts. He also worked as a database specialist on software designed for monitoring clinical drug trials. Mr. Perez started his career in neurobiology and muscle research at Harvard. He subsequently moved into large scale information systems and databases developing skills in traditional management information systems as well as large scale databases and software design. Mr. Perez's expertise in data warehousing and databases led to his contributions in bio-informatics and databases for the Human Genome Project in Massachusetts. Mr. Perez’s dedication to founding the Society began when he met fellow FSHD patient Dr. Stephen Jacobsen in 1987. Daniel developed the by-laws of the Society, incorporated the organization as a nonprofit corporation and organized the Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board. Mr. Perez has testified nearly forty times before Congressional Committees seeking funding for FSHD research and meets regularly with researchers, clinicians and the heads of the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies to help organize meetings, symposia, research plans, white papers, and research on dystrophy research. In 2001, Mr. Perez was a key architect and force in the passage and implementation of the Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research, and Education Amendments of 2001 ("MD-CARE Act"), signed into law on December 18, 2001. The MD CARE Act mandates the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies working on facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy and muscular dystrophy to rapidly accelerate research on these diseases. Mr. Perez serves as a Special Government Employee and Member of the fifteen member Federal Advisory Committee authorized by the "MD-CARE Act" called the Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee (MDCC). Daniel and his wife, Sue, live in Bedford, Massachusetts.
Daniel can be contacted through the Society’s Research Programs office:
FSH Society, Inc.
11 Elmbrook Circle
Bedford, MA 01730 USA
(781) 275-7781
(781) 275-7789 fax
e-mail: daniel.perez@fshsociety.org
Carol A. Perez, M.Ed.
Mrs. Carol A. Perez is an experienced administrator and counselor in rehabilitation. Mrs. Perez served as Coordinator and Executive Director of the FSH Society from 1992-2007. Mrs. Perez has been Secretary since June 2007, and is in charge of Patient Resources. Initiating the New England FSHD Support Group in 1989, her dual role as service provider and consumer serves to fuel her activism to advocate for the FSHD community in all arenas. Mrs. Perez lives with her husband, Charles, in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Carol can be contacted through the Society’s Patient Resources office:
FSH Society, Inc.
3 Westwood Road
Lexington, MA 02420
(781) 860-0501
(781) 860-0599 fax
e-mail: carol.perez@fshsociety.org