Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Research Team

Name and Credentials: Elizabeth S. Gromisch, PhD, MSCS

Title: Research Neuropsychologist

Affiliations: Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media

Elizabeth S. Gromisch, PhD, MSCS is a Harry Weaver Scholar of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and research neuropsychologist at the Joyce D. and Andrew J. Mandell Center for Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Care and Neuroscience Research at Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital, Trinity Health Of New England. She also holds appointments at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, and maintains an affiliation with VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Dr. Gromisch’s research interests include using mHealth to deliver behavioral interventions to people with multiple sclerosis (MS), understanding factors related to treatment adherence and self-management behaviors, and improving cognitive screening procedures. She is a co-developer of the Multiple Sclerosis Resiliency Scale (MSRS), the first multidimensional measure of resiliency to MS-related challenges, which is currently being translated and investigated in other countries.

Name and Credentials: Zaenab Dhari, MD

Title: Multiple Sclerosis Fellow

Affiliations: UConn Health, Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut (Assistant Professor), Frank Netter School of Medicine, Quinnipiac University

Zaenab Dhari, MD is a Multiple Sclerosis Fellow. Dr. Dhari’s journey began with developmental neuroscience, where a keen interest in brain development and function laid the foundation for her current research endeavors. Building on this foundation, and the role of progenitor cells in response to stress in various neurological diseases, she has been dedicating her research to understand remyelination failure through unravelling metabolic pathways in MS which is a potential target for a therapeutic intervention. In addition to her interest in understanding oligodendrocytes repair capacity, Dr. Dhari is also interested in understanding the interplay between cardiac risk factors and autonomic dysregulation in MS and their impact on electrophysiological and structural cardiac manifestations. Dr. Dhari’s work encompasses basic research that delves into the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying MS, translational research that bridges the gap between laboratory discoveries and clinical applications, and clinical research that strives to improve patient outcomes through innovative therapeutic strategies.

Name and Credentials: Lindsay Neto, MPH

Title and Affiliations: Research Associate III, Mandell Center for Multiple Sclerosis; Instructor, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Medical Sciences, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University

Lindsay earned her undergraduate in biomedical sciences at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT. She completed her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lindsay’s research interests lie in population health and well-being with a focus on comorbid conditions, lifestyle, and quality of life research in persons with multiple sclerosis. 

Name and Credentials: Heather M. DelMastro, MS, CSCS

Title: Research Associate II

Affiliations: Mandell MS Center, Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital, Trinity Health Of New England; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University

Heather M DelMastro has over ten years of research experience, with a strong background in exercise science, interventional studies, and functional measures. Her research in Multiple Sclerosis focuses on upper and lower limb function, strength, physical activity, falls, gait, and balance. She also has a track record of establishing standardized assessments and a high inter- and intra-rater reliability, with experience in recruiting, consenting, data collection and management, and preparing data for presentation and publication. Heather mentors Doctor of Physical Therapy Students through their research Capstones starting at the development of the idea through the literature review, methods, scientific writing, statistical analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of the project. 

Name and Credentials: Carolyn St. Andre, BS

Title and Affiliations: Research Associate I, Mandell Center for Multiple Sclerosis

Carolyn earned her Bachelors of Science in Toxicology at Northeastern University in Boston, MA in 2007. Carolyn started her research career in obstetrics under the Director of Perinatal Services at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, then transitioned to her current focus on multiple sclerosis at the Mandell MS Center in 2011. Carolyn’s role focuses on registry projects and management of data abstraction for contribution to longitudinal data sets.