Leadership

Dr. Yeshokumar is a Medical Director in clinical research and development at Bristol Meyers Squibb, focused on neuroinflammation. She also holds an affiliate faculty position at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where she practices as an autoimmune neurologist. She cares for patients with autoimmune encephalitis, multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, neurosarcoidosis, and other autoimmune diseases that affect the central nervous system in children and adults. Her academic research focuses on understanding outcomes after autoimmune encephalitis and identifying clinical and biologic factors associated with these outcomes. Dr. Yeshokumar received her undergraduate degree from the Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. She completed her pediatric neurology residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and her multiple sclerosis and neuroimmune fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Ho founded Drug Design Methodologies, which produced and licensed two highly successful commercial packages, RACHEL and CHARLIE, through Tripos, Inc. These products helped chemists refine weak binding leads into much more potent drugs. Over forty major pharmaceutical companies licensed these products until Tripos was sold to private investors in 2009. While at DDM, he maintained a senior scientist position in the Biochemistry Dept. at Washington University where he collaborated with numerous academic departments to develop ligands against specific targets. Dr. Ho has also served as a consultant to many pharmaceutical companies, including Monsanto, Pfizer and DuPont. Dr. Ho is a graduate of Purdue University and completed his MD/PhD from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Dr. Samantha Coyleen Shapiro, MD, is a board-certified rheumatologist and internist with expertise in autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. She founded the division of rheumatology at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Shapiro is an active member of the American College of Rheumatology, volunteering her time to the insurance subcommittee. She also serves as the rheumatology service line lead at NodMD. She is an inspiring educator, widely known for her energy and sense of humor, and she enjoys writing for both medical and lay audiences. Dr. Shapiro received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.