Michael Benatar, MBChB, MS, DPhil

Dr. Benatar is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Miami. He is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the research studies initiated by ARC, and the site-PI of other studies that ARC participates in. He hails from South Africa, which explains the funny degree behind his name.

Maria Catalina Fernández, MD

Catalina received her medical degree and completed her training in Ophthalmology in her home country Colombia. Since joining the University of Miami, she has become interested in Clinical Research in Neurology. She is currently assisting the IBMPFD research study group under Dr. Benatar’s oversight.

Natasha Garcia, BA

Natasha was previously involved in addictions research. She now serves as a research assistant involved in all aspects of our ALS research, including communication, outreach, and biomarker testing. She studied psychology and plans to pursue a graduate degree in neuropsychology after obtaining more research experience.

Christine Stanislaw, MS

Christine is a certified genetic counselor and has several years of experience working with adult-onset genetic conditions. She provides counseling by telephone for participants in the pre-fALS study.

Julie Steele, RN

Julie is a Registered Nurse with 17 years of clinical research at the University of Miami’s Department of Neurology. She works with several physicians in the department coordinating various neuromuscular research projects.

Vanessa C. Vazquez, MPH

Vanessa has a degree in epidemiology and has several years of clinical research experience. Her previous fields of research include ophthalmology and asthma. It was her exposure to neurological diseases in the ophthalmology clinic that sparked her interest in neurological research. She is a coordinator for some of the studies.

Margaret L. Walker, PhD

Margaret was trained in physiological psychology and has developed a great interest in clinical research. She is the Project Manager for the multi-center Arimoclomol trial and a Study Coordinator for the Pre-fALS study.

Alexandra Waltz, MA

Alex has a background in the health sciences field, and also received training in health services administration. She joined the University of Miami in 2006 and initially engaged in oncology research. Her interest in chronic diseases is what drew her to the Department of Neurology to expand her research experience and focus. She coordinates various neuromuscular clinical trials.

Joanne Wuu, ScM

Joanne is our Biostatistician. She plays an important role in the design of our studies, and in the analysis and interpretation of the data. (Joanne is camera-shy).

Daphne Champagne, MA

Daphne was previously involved in genetics of autism research and joins the team as our new clinical data manager. She has been working in clinical research for several years and has experience in both data management and research coordination. She will be assisting the team in implementing a new database platform for the ALS research studies.