Leadership

Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco, Dr. Kohn is a physician-researcher with a background in emergency medicine who has retired from clinical ED care. He brings more than 20 years of expertise in designing observational studies, enhancing causal inference, and managing complex clinical datasets. He has taught in UCSF's Training in Clinical Research (TICR) Program since 2000, including 10 years as co-director, lecturer, and section leader in the program's flagship "Designing Clinical Research" course. He also serves as a research advisor to investigators in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford Medical School, and co-directs the Stanford course on evaluating technologies for diagnosis, prognosis, and screening. He is a member of the Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and serves as Co-Investigator on the COS-CLIP Study. His combination of frontline emergency medicine experience and rigorous research methodology makes him a uniquely valuable voice on Cervello's board.

A practicing neurologist and faculty instructor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Dr. Dresser brings clinical expertise in neurological conditions and long-term patient care. With a particular interest in the intersection of brain health, trauma, and recovery outcomes, Dr. Dresser contributes Cervello's foundational neurology research perspective — ensuring that the science of brain injury and trauma-related neurological sequelae informs the organization's community health initiatives.

An emergency medicine physician affiliated with Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in San Mateo, California, Dr. White completed his medical training at the University of California San Francisco and his internship and residency at the University of Pittsburgh. Board certified in Emergency Medicine, he brings more than 20 years of frontline ER experience with trauma and violence-related injuries — offering Cervello the perspective of a clinician who sees the downstream consequences of system failures every shift.

Rick Scott brings more than three decades of nonprofit leadership and community health philanthropy to Cervello's board. He served as President of the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara from 1992 to 2017 — a 25-year tenure that included leading the organization's most consequential chapter: a $48 million capital campaign and the construction of the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center, which consolidated three facilities into a single comprehensive regional cancer center and stands as one of the most significant community health infrastructure projects on California's Central Coast. Prior to the Cancer Foundation, he spent eight years as Director of Finance at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, giving him deep roots in both the financial and philanthropic sides of community healthcare. He subsequently served as Board Chair of United Way of Santa Barbara County and remains on the board as Immediate Past Chair. A UCSB graduate, Rick's combination of healthcare finance experience, mission-driven philanthropy, and nonprofit governance at scale makes him a valuable voice as Cervello builds its funding partnerships and expands its community health research mission.

President of QuesGen Systems, Inc. and founder of Cervello Research. Mike has spent two decades building clinical research infrastructure for hospitals, academic medical centers, and community-based programs across the country. He founded Cervello to create a new model of directed, impact-focused health research philanthropy — one that pairs rigorous science with the practical tools that frontline organizations need to demonstrate their value and sustain their funding.