Welcoming FDF’s Research Programs Manager
FDF is thrilled to welcome the FDF’s first ever Research Programs Manager. “FDF has some ambitious research, education and network development goals for the near future. She will play a key role in helping develop new programs, as well as bringing our existing programs to new levels,” said Deanna Portero, FDF’s Executive Director. Teneasha brings years of experience working in research and nonprofit settings. She is a champion for community participatory research, addressing health inequalities, and an advocate for inclusion of individuals with disabilities in all aspects of life.
In previous roles, Teneasha has served as a facilitator of multiple grants focused on maternal and child health, diabetes and high blood pressure interventions among African Americans, evaluation of university nursing school programs, and church interventions for connecting communities to health care resources. She is a PhD candidate at University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Teneasha shares information on FDF research initiatives at a recent meeting
“The Fibrous Dysplasia Foundation has been working closely with our Scientific Advisory Council to determine the most important and promising areas for FD/MAS research,” explained Portero, “Teneasha joins our team to help us advance those priorities and make sure we seize every opportunity for collaboration and advancement available for the FD/MAS community. For example, Teneasha brings experience in developing grant programs from the ground up, pursuing multi-party federal funding opportunities, and conducting community-based research. That is a rare and valuable combination of experiences that are incredible relevant to our current and future needs. We’re very lucky to have Teneasha joining our team.”
Teneasha’s responsibilities will include travel to national and international research and rare disease meetings to advance the FD/MAS community’s research interests. Teneasha has already traveled to Montreal, Canada to attend one of the largest international scientific meetings on bone research, the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research annual meeting. While in Montreal, Teneasha had promising initial conversations about future FD/MAS research with several prominent researchers including Drs. Kassim Javaid, Alison Boyce, Michael Collins, Roland Chapurlat, Maria Luisa Brandi, Pablo Florenzano Valdes, Natasha Appelman-Dijkstra, and Edward Hsiao. Next month, Teneasha will meet with rare disease drug developers at the National Organization for Rare Disorders’ annual Rare Disease Summit.
When she’s not representing the FD/MAS community at scientific meetings, she lives in Birmingham, Alabama with two daughters who keep her very busy with extracurricular activities. Outside of spending time with her daughters, Teneasha enjoys running, reading books, and traveling the world. “I am thrilled to join the FDF team. I look forward to implementing programs and processes that effectively increase our outreach and engagement to further promote sound FD/MAS research.” The work continues, the team grows stronger, and the urgency of advancing FD/MAS science has never been clearer.