Past Members
Patricia Sheehan, RN MPH MS | Project Manager
Patricia (Patty) Sheehan is Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. She received her BSN from Villanova University, a MPH with a concentration in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University followed by a MS in Community Health (Family Nurse Practitioner) from the University of Massachusetts. She started her career as a clinical research nurse at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Ms. Sheehan has organized, directed and completed large multicenter trials for both academia and industry, most recently as the Associate Director for the NHLBI sponsored IMMEDIATE Trial. In addition to her research experience, she has worked in public and community health nursing and provided primary and specialized care as a nurse practitioner. She is a member of the Society for Clinical Trials and held certification as a Clinical Research Associate by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals.
Danielle Riggs | Director of Research Administration
Danielle Riggs received her B.S. in Biology from Stonehill College, and has worked within Research Administration at Tufts Medical Center since 2000, most recently joining the leadership team for the Department of Medicine in 2008 as the Director of Administration and Finance. She oversees the pre- and post-award administration for all federal, foundation, and industry grants and clinical trials throughout the Divisions of Medicine. In this role, she helped to build the budget management model for D2d, and continues to work with D2d to develop and oversee internal systems for monitoring D2d’s complex budget across sites.
Olivia Lovegreen | Research Administrator
Olivia Lovegreen received her B.S. in Health Policy and Management from Providence College in 2012. During her undergraduate study she interned at Rhode Island Primary Care Physicians Corporation and Butler Hospital in the Risk Management department. Following graduation she spent a short time working at Joslin Diabetes Center which fostered her interest in grant management. Olivia began working in the Research Administration department at Tufts Medical Center in March 2014 and is enjoying the opportunity to work on such a large study with multiple sites across the country.
Paul Fuss | Research Associate
Paul Fuss received his B.A. degree from the University of Michigan and has over 20 years of experience as a research coordinator and project manager in nutrition-based clinical research, including multi-center clinical trials, conducted at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. He served as the site Project Manager for the multi-center CALERIE Study, a large and very complex trial on calorie restriction and the aging process. Most recently, he completed a field study on the effectiveness of a new micronutrient-rich supplemental food on improving the health and nutritional status of primary school-aged children in the West African country of Guinea-Bissau. Mr. Fuss joined the research team in the Division of Endocrinology at Tufts Medical Center in 2012.
Cindy Haviet, MS | Research Assistant
Cindy Haviet received her B.A. in Biology with a minor in Public Health from Regis College in 2013 and after two remaining courses will receive her M.S. in Regulatory and Clinical Research Management, a program geared towards working in an academic research environment or regulatory affairs. During her undergraduate study, Cindy was the co-founder & President of the Regis College Science Association & a member of The National Biological Honor Society. In her graduate studies she has taken courses that are complementary to the work she will be doing as part of the D2d research team. Samples of the courses include clinical research methodology, pharmaceutical regulations, biostatistics, and quality systems and risk management.
Laila Stevens | Research Coordinator
Laila Stevens received her B.A. in Studio Arts with a double minor in Chemistry and Asian Studies from Bates College in 2021. After graduating, Laila worked in the Hu Lab at the Tufts University School of Medicine. There, the clinical and laboratory focuses were on Lyme disease, both on the bacteria itself as well as organisms’ biological responses. Laila was part of two industry-funded studies relating to the treatment and prevention of Lyme disease as a research technician and study coordinator.