Our Team

Julia Sommer joined the Simons Foundation in 2011 to become a member of the team of scientists that manage SFARI’s grant portfolio and targeted projects. She mainly focuses on grants of cellular and molecular studies in autism, including many projects that make…

John Spiro joined the foundation in 2007 and works with the SFARI director to oversee all aspects of the foundation’s autism research initiatives, including managing a team of scientists and administrative staff involved in launching requests for applications, evaluating proposals and other…

Allegra Thomas joined the foundation in 2016 as a member of the SFARI team. She is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she earned a B.A. in psychology. Prior to joining the foundation, Thomas worked as a legal…

As project manager for the Simons Variation in Individuals Project (Simons VIP), Jennifer Tjernagel is responsible for managing study progress from initiation through data analysis. Previously, she was project manager for the Simons Simplex Collection, working through the University of Michigan. Before…

Natalia Volfovsky joined the foundation in 2013 to oversee analytics support of the data initiatives within the foundation. She leads a team of data analysts and bioinformatic engineers that operates SFARI Base, supports SFARI Gene and scientific administration databases and implements computational…

Casey White-Lehman supervises several research cohorts, including some that are registered with the Interactive Autism Network (IAN) and will be invited to join SPARK. As the SPARK cohort grows, White-Lehman will work with researchers who want to contact participants about additional research…

Hana Zaydens facilitates research activities related to SPARK, including managing participant research experience. She develops standardized operating procedures for internal staff and collaborative clinical partners, as well as assisting in the national clinical sites’ recruitment and research efforts. Zaydens also works with…