Leadership that moves the mission forward.

Jared Brancazio is the Founding and Managing Partner of Brancazio | Meisenzahl Wealth Management, a Raymond James Financial Services advisory practice. Through his professional work and his own journey with cancer, he has come to appreciate that the most meaningful measure of success lies not in what we accumulate, but in what we contribute. That perspective has shaped both his personal and professional life.

Jared joined the CureSearch Board of Directors in 2018, later serving as Treasurer and, since 2020, as Board Chair. Working alongside CureSearch's leadership, staff, and fellow board members, he helped strengthen the organization's governance, financial stewardship, and strategic focus in support of its mission.

In recognition of his service, Jared was named a national finalist for the 2023 Invest in Others Catalyst Award, one of only fifteen financial advisors selected nationwide. Through the program, CureSearch received a $25,000 grant in support of its mission.

At the heart of Jared's commitment to service is a longstanding belief: our lives increase in value as we give them away in service of others.

Suzanne Finnegan is Director and Chief Credit Officer of Build America Mutual, where she is responsible for underwriting approval of the municipal bond transactions the company insures. She has held the chief credit role since BAM’s launch in 2012 and was elected to its Board of Directors in 2023.

Previously, Suzanne was an Executive Vice President and Senior Credit Officer at Wells Fargo Bank. Earlier, she held senior municipal underwriting and surveillance roles at Financial Security Assurance and MBIA and worked in public finance and municipal research. She has been active in professional municipal finance organizations, as well as community organizations.

Suzanne holds a B.S. from St. John’s University and an M.B.A. from Fordham University. She was drawn to CureSearch by her love of science and family cancer experiences, and strongly believes in the mission.

Trent Demulling is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Kiewit Corporation, one of North America’s largest construction and engineering organizations. He provides senior leadership across key financial functions, including finance, accounting, internal audit and employee benefits. During his career at Kiewit, Trent has held a range of financial and business management positions, building deep experience in the financial stewardship of complex, large-scale operations.

Earlier in his career, he worked with KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Trent also serves as a trustee of the Peter Kiewit Foundation and has played a leadership role in Omaha civic initiatives, including serving as board chair of Omaha Discovery Trust, the organization behind the Kiewit Luminarium science center.

Stacey Adam, PhD, is Senior Vice President, Science Partnerships and Chief Clinical Officer at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, where she leads major public-private research collaborations designed to accelerate biomedical discovery and therapeutic development. Her portfolio has included initiatives spanning cancer, metabolic and cardiovascular disease, COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines, biomarkers, pediatric medical devices and other complex health challenges.

Before joining FNIH, Dr. Adam was a manager in Deloitte Consulting’s Federal Life Sciences and Healthcare Strategy practice and completed postdoctoral research at Stanford University School of Medicine. She earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Duke University and a B.S. in Medical Technology/Clinical Laboratory Science from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Duke recognized her with its Centennial Distinguished Alumni Award in 2026.

Osama Alsaleh is Head of Partnerships, Health at Plug and Play Tech Center, where he works at the intersection of healthcare innovation, venture investment and strategic partnerships. He connects health systems, life sciences companies, technology leaders and startups to identify and advance solutions with the potential to transform healthcare.

Before joining Plug and Play, Osama spent four years with Cerner and Oracle following Oracle’s acquisition of Cerner. His work included building health-equity initiatives and developing partnerships with healthcare systems, public institutions and private-sector organizations. Across his career, he has focused on bringing together leaders from healthcare delivery, technology and investment to accelerate innovation and improve the way healthcare is delivered.

Julianne Averill is a Managing Director at Danforth Advisors and an accomplished finance and business leader with more than 20 years of experience helping life science, digital health and techbio companies scale and transform. Her expertise includes strategic and operational leadership, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, IPO preparation, investor relations, business development and organizational transformation.

She previously served as CFO and Chief Business Officer of Alveo Technologies, Vice President of Finance at BlackThorn Therapeutics and Associate Vice President of Finance and Accounting at Manifest MedEx. Julianne also serves as a public-company board member and audit committee chair. She holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in Accounting and Business Administration from California State University.

Cason Carter is Head of Public Affairs at Citadel and Citadel Securities, where he is responsible for public-policy strategy as well as political and philanthropic initiatives. Before joining Citadel, he led external affairs for Alliance Resource Partners and previously practiced law at GableGotwals, focusing on complex business litigation. Cason also served as an elected city councilor in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A longtime advocate for pediatric cancer research, he has served on the boards of CureSearch and the Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute and as a trustee of the Scott Carter Foundation, established by his family in memory of his brother Scott. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his bachelor’s degree in public policy studies and economics from Duke University.

Shari Collier is a senior healthcare finance executive with HCA Central/West Texas, which includes St. David’s HealthCare and Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare. Her career has centered on financial leadership within complex healthcare organizations, with experience supporting hospital operations, strategic planning and responsible financial management.

Based in Austin, Texas, Shari has served on the CureSearch Board of Directors since 2018. She brings to the Board a healthcare operator’s understanding of the financial and organizational realities of delivering high-quality care, as well as senior-level expertise in finance, performance and stewardship.

Mike Crowe is a technology industry board member and advisor and the retired Chief Information Officer of Colgate-Palmolive Company. During a 34-year career at Colgate-Palmolive, including nine years as CIO, he helped strengthen the company’s global technology capabilities, financial discipline and strategic technology partnerships while modernizing how teams collaborated and developed software.

Since retiring, Mike has remained active as an advisor and board member to technology and business organizations, bringing decades of experience in digital transformation, enterprise technology, data and organizational change. He earned a B.S. in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Delaware. Mike brings to CureSearch a global enterprise perspective on technology, innovation, governance and scaling organizations effectively.

Ali Frost is a senior brand marketing executive with 25+ years of experience building brands and driving commercial growth across Fortune 100, founder-led, and private equity-backed companies. Her career spans consumer goods, luxury services, private aviation, and golf, bringing a broad business perspective to marketing leadership. Ali holds a BA from Emory University and an MBA from Emory’s Goizueta Business School.

Ali has proudly served on the CureSearch Board of Directors since 2023 and has been an active volunteer with the organization since 2020. As a mom, she is deeply committed to CureSearch’s mission and a simple belief: every child deserves the chance to beat cancer and experience a healthy childhood.

Greg Hill is an Executive Vice President of Kiewit Corporation. He serves on Kiewit’s Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and as the company’s Chief Compliance Officer.

As part of his executive leadership responsibilities, Greg oversees the company’s regional operations in the eastern United States, Eastern Canada, the operations of Kiewit subsidiaries Kiewit Foundations Company, Underground, Mass. Electric Construction Co. and McNally International, Inc.

Greg joined the board of CureSearch in September 2024. His connection to CureSearch comes through the Koenigs family. Harry, a former Kiewit colleague, and his wife, Robin, founded Jakefest – a charity golf series benefiting The Jacob Koenigs Memorial Fund at CureSearch – in memory of their son, Jake, who died of rhabdomyosarcoma just shy of his ninth birthday. Helping advance better treatments for children like Jake is what makes this cause personal to Greg.

Geoffrey Kannan, PhD, MD is Senior Vice President, Medical Science at Precision for Medicine, where he provides medical and scientific expertise to biotechnology companies conducting oncology clinical trials. Trained as a pediatric neuro-oncologist, Dr. Kannan has worked at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s National Hospital/Inova Children’s Hospital before moving into industry.

His work bridges clinical oncology and drug development, with a particular interest in applying lessons from industry-run clinical trials to the development of new therapies for children with cancer. He has served on the CureSearch Industry Advisory Council since 2021 and now chairs the council.

Dave Kupiec is the Founder and CEO of KPI Media Partners and a media and marketing executive with more than three decades of experience in strategy, publishing, advertising and sales leadership. He began his career in advertising agencies before moving into senior roles at major media brands, including Condé Nast’s Gourmet and Wenner Media properties such as Men’s Journal, Rolling Stone and Us Weekly.

In 2002, Dave joined the founding executive team of National CineMedia, where he served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing and helped build the company into a major cinema advertising business, including through its 2007 public offering. He founded KPI Media Partners in 2020.

John Polson is Chairman and Managing Partner of Fisher Phillips, an international law firm with over 900 attorneys. John leads the firm’s vision, strategy, and culture, while overseeing the firm’s legal and consulting operations in 52 offices worldwide.

While primarily focused on leadership, John still maintains a law practice focused on advising complex human resource outsourcing organizations in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, compliance, and growth strategies. He earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School and a B.S. in Finance from the University of South Florida.

John brings to CureSearch extensive experience in governance, organizational leadership, risk, strategy and the legal issues facing growing organizations.

Jeffrey Skolnik, MD, is Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at INOVIO, where he leads clinical development programs in areas including HPV-associated disease and immuno-oncology. He has held leadership positions in clinical development and medical affairs at AstraZeneca, GSK and TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals, working across early- and late-stage drug development.

Dr. Skolnik is a board-certified pediatric hematologist/oncologist and an adjunct associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.D. from New York University. A longtime CureSearch leader, he has helped evaluate research through the organization’s Industry Advisory Council and contributes deep expertise in translating promising science into therapies that can reach patients.

Brenda Weigel, MSc, MD, is Vice President of Clinical Research Administration, Industry Engagement at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and a pediatric oncologist recognized for advancing new therapies for children with cancer. Before joining St. Jude in 2025, she led the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University of Minnesota and held leadership roles within the Masonic Cancer Center.

Dr. Weigel has been deeply involved with the Children’s Oncology Group, including chairing its Developmental Therapeutics Committee and the NCI-funded Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network from 2013 to 2024. Her work has included a particular focus on rare pediatric tumors and sarcomas. She received her medical degree from McMaster University and completed pediatric residency and pediatric hematology/oncology and bone marrow transplant training in Canada and at the University of Minnesota.

Dave Whan is an Executive Partner at Gartner, where he works with senior human resources leaders on the strategic, organizational and leadership issues facing complex enterprises. In his advisory role, he brings an executive perspective to workforce strategy, organizational effectiveness, leadership and the evolving role of the chief human resources officer.

Dave is part of Gartner’s executive advisory community and has participated in the firm’s HR leadership programming, including its HR Symposium/Xpo. As a member of the CureSearch Board of Directors, he contributes senior-level expertise in human capital, leadership and organizational strategy to support the organization’s growth and mission.

Mark Zafra is a procurement and strategic sourcing executive with broad experience in technology and global business operations. He is a Leader of Finance and Accounting Operations at Scale AI, where he leads global accounting operations including procurement, strategic sourcing, accounts payable, expenses, travel, contingent workforce and global payroll. Earlier in his career, Mark held senior procurement, sourcing and vendor-management roles at organizations including LiveRamp, Twitter and Allianz.

His experience spans procurement strategy, supplier relationships, contracting and the use of technology to improve business processes. He has also contributed his leadership to nonprofit organizations and brings to CureSearch a combination of commercial discipline, operational expertise and commitment to mission-driven work.