Dean’s Advisory Board

Dr. Donna Joan Astion is a graduate of the Sargent College class of 1982, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Columbia University where she earned a master’s in public health. She completed her orthopaedic residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland at Case Medical Center and foot and ankle fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery and Roosevelt Hospital. She specializes in conservative treatment of the foot and ankle and serves on the Board of Trustees of a New York hospital.

Gayle R. Berg, PhD, is a psychologist in Roslyn Heights, NY where she has been practicing for the past 30 years. She received her doctorate in counseling psychology from New York University in 1983. While earning this degree, Berg worked full-time at Mt. Sinai Hospital as the assistant clinical director of the Day Treatment Center. There, she helped to design and implement an innovative recovery-based treatment program for individuals experiencing major mental health problems. She became a certified clinical hypnotherapist in 1993 and a diplomate in clinical hypnotherapy in 2000.

Berg’s commitment to the recovery movement and to improving access to quality mental health care nationwide includes decades of state and national legislative advocacy. She was chair of the New York State PAC for psychology for 14 years and has advocated tirelessly for the passage of the mental health parity laws at the state and national level. In addition, she has held several governance positions within the New York State Psychological Association, is a former president of the Nassau County Psychological Association, and a former president of the L.I. Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.  She currently serves on the board of directors at the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care and UJA Fed NY Board of Directors and is a member UJA Executive Committee and Advisory Board.

She received the New York State Psychological Association, Allen V Williams, Jr. Memorial Award in 2008 and in 2009, received the American Psychological Association’s Karl F. Heiser Presidential Award for Advocacy. In August 2017, she was the UJA Federation NY Robert S Boaz Award recipient.

Dr. Andrea Capachietti is a humanitarian aid consultant and university lecturer on global health and refugee resettlement issues, focusing on women’s rights and child protection. Her area of concentration is in public policy and health inequalities. Her work as a lecturer and consultant to non-governmental organizations requires the constant monitoring of important geopolitical, global health, and policy issues. In the field, Dr. Capachietti has performed needs assessments for medical facilities requesting humanitarian aid and relief assistance, which has taken her to countries in conflict. She has also assisted with medical evacuations and with tracing programs for family reunification. She continues to provide training and support to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable and underserved populations.

Dr. Capachietti advocates on behalf of victims of human rights abuses, particularly women and children, and has created a university lecture series to help students better comprehend the complex forces affecting health outcomes worldwide. This series concentrates on the legal principles guiding humanitarian assistance, the need for building strategic partnerships, the impact of climate change, migration, urbanization, and the importance of understanding geopolitical trends in doing effective relief work.

In addition to the Sargent College Dean’s Advisory Board, she is on the board of directors at the Southeastern European Film Festival and Community Partners of Los Angeles. Dr. Capachietti also serves as a member of the advisory committee for the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a member of Direct Relief’s Council of Advisors.

Dr. Capachietti received her Bachelor of Science from Boston University, her Master of Science and doctoral degrees from the University of Southern California. She is a graduate of the Oxford University post-doctoral program in Refugee Studies, the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma’s Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery training program, as well as a participant in the Women and Power: Leadership in a New World executive education program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Born and raised in Boston, Mass., Dr. Patricia K. Donahoe completed her undergraduate degree at Boston University, an MD at Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons, and her surgical residency at Tufts New England Medical Center. Following Chief Residency, she did research in the laboratory of Dr. Judah Folkman at Boston Children’s Hospital and a clinical fellowship with Dr. Hardy Hendren at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), before completing Registrar and Senior Registrar posts at Adler Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool under Professors Peter Rickham and Herbert Johnston.

Dr. Donahoe was then invited to join the Department of Surgery at MGH in 1973, and 13 clinical and research years later, became the Marshall K. Bartlett Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. She served as Chief of the Pediatric Surgical Services from 1984 to 2003 and has continuously served as director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories from 1973 to the present. Dr. has been Donahoe elected to fellowships in the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has served as president of the Boston Surgical Society, New England Surgical Society, and the American Pediatric Surgical Association.

Dr. Donahoe’s surgical contributions have been in pediatric urological and tracheoesophageal reconstructions. Her research has primarily focused on sex differentiation, the purification of Mullerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS) protein, the cloning of the MIS gene and its recent modification to produce a bioactive analog, the scale of the MIS analog, and its use in defining the functional role of MIS in development, cancer, prediction of ovarian reserve, and oncoprotection. More recently, she has also focused on congenital birth defects, specifically on the genetics of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.

Her research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1976. She has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and has trained and mentored more than 100 fellows in her laboratory.

Marla Gilbert is a parent of a member of the class of 2022 majoring in Human Physiology. Marla’s husband, Larry, is a member of the BU Board of Overseers. Marla and Larry hail from Chicagoland where Marla has made a career as an interior designer. She is active in a parent leadership capacity at Berkshire boarding school, involved in Impact Grants Chicago, a women’s organization that funds grants to Chicago nonprofits, and as a Board member of her local community arts center. Marla is also a volunteer on the BU Parent and Family Programs.

Jeanne Knox holds a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Salve Regina University and a Master of Science in nursing from Boston College. As a registered nurse in both Boston and New York City, she focused on perinatal and neonatal care with an emphasis on high-risk mothers and babies. She also raised two children and served as the director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Fairfield County in Connecticut. Knox has chaired the Boston University Parents Leadership Council since 2003. Under her leadership, the Parents Program has become a highly visible and engaging outreach effort from the Dean of Students Office. She has also worked with the advisory committee for Trustee Spouse Outreach and the International Advisory Board. Knox’s generosity extends beyond her time and energy. Boston University recognized her substantial contributions to student life with an Honorary Scarlet Key Award. Additionally, in 2017, she was recognized for her overall service to the University with an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.

Wendy Lustbader is a speech language pathologist specializing in advocacy for children on the autism spectrum. She has more than 26 years experience working with children with a variety of communication disorders. She has assisted in the development of neighborhood inclusion to mainstream developmentally delayed students in regular classes. Wendy is a Boston University Scarlet Key and Sargent College Twinness Award recipient. She also was the president of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association during her senior year at Boston University. She attends BU alumni programs, hosts information sessions for potential incoming students, and served on the BU Alumni Council for 9 years. She currently serves as part of the Boston University Alumni Relations Task Force. She has also volunteered for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Pan-Mass Challenge and Scleroderma Foundation.

Therese Melden received her Bachelor of Science from Sargent College and an MBA from Northeastern University. She has worked as a Service Coordinator for the Department of Developmental Services and a training consultant and partner at Innovative Concepts in Worcester. She has served on the boards of Beverly Bootstraps, North Shore Music Theatre, Pingree School, and Shore Country Day School. Melden is a co-founder of We Are America the Beautiful, a non-partisan community initiative focused on engaging citizens to learn about the status of national events, the impact of local action, and the importance of voting thoughtfully.

Dr. Ruchelsman is chief of the Division of Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and holds a sub-specialty certificate of added qualification in surgery of the hand and upper extremity. He is a clinical associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and the president and director of the Hand Surgery Research & Education Foundation. Dr. Ruchelsman has distinguished himself as an expert in the care of elite and professional athletes. He is a hand and wrist sports medicine consultant for the New England Patriots, Harvard University (Division I Ivy League), Boston College (Division I ACC), and several other regional Division I-III collegiate programs. He has also served as team physician for the USA National Maccabiah ice hockey and basketball teams.

Dr. Ruchelsman graduated from Boston University, summa cum laude. He received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases. He then completed the Harvard Medical School Hand, Upper Extremity, and Microsurgery Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital.

He is an invited consultant reviewer for several hand and upper extremity peer-reviewed journals, and he has published more than 60 scientific peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He was named a Young Leader in the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and has been selected for the 2013 and 2014 Guides to America’s Top Orthopedists.

Sharon Ryan is a Boston University Trustee and a class of 1970 Sargent College graduate where she earned a degree in occupational therapy. She and her husband, Robert, endowed the Ryan Summer Fellowship in 2017. The fellowship provides three months of summer support for a Sargent College PhD student engaged in research relevant to the mission of the Ryan Center, which includes the BU Physical Therapy Center.

Sharon Shapiro is the Community Liaison and Trustee at the Ruderman Family Foundation. She has been an active member of the Greater Boston Philanthropic community for more than two decades and has an unwavering commitment to addressing social causes such the pressing mental health crisis and the inclusion of people with disabilities in all facets of life. Sharon actively supports organizations working in the mental health field, particularly those focused on teenagers and college-age students. Her role entails raising awareness, decreasing stigma, creating strategy, expanding impactful programs, and fostering collaborations that lead to positive change.

Sharon’s academic journey led her to pursue psychology and nutrition. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Boston University and a B.S. in nutrition from Simmons College. After gaining field experience, she furthered her education with an M.S. in nutrition from NYU. As a registered dietitian, Sharon worked at several long-term care facilities for seniors in New York City and Massachusetts before joining her family in their philanthropic endeavors.

In her capacity as a Community Liaison, Sharon has played a vital role in spearheading numerous impactful projects in collaboration with prestigious institutions and organizations. Notably, among her accomplishments is the commissioning and publication of several influential white papers, such as “Taking a Leave of Absence: A Guide for College Students” and “Taking a Leave of Absence: A Guide for Campus Leadership, Faculty, & Staff,” developed in partnership with the Boston University Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation’s NITEO program. Sharon has also been instrumental in various other initiatives, including the release of the 2018 research findings of the “Bryt Notes” project and the publication of the “This is the Time to Lead with Mental Health and Equity in Mind” report in collaboration with the Brookline Center for Community Mental Health.

In addition to her role as a trustee at the Ruderman Family Foundation, Sharon actively supports the community on numerous boards and committees. Her current volunteer engagements include serving on the Dean’s Advisory board at Boston University Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, participating in the Development Committee at Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael High School for Boys, and being a member of the Executive Committee at the Miriam Fund at CJP. Previously, Sharon served on the boards of Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, Combined Jewish Philanthropy (CJP), the Disability Task Force of Greater Boston, and the Touro Synagogue Foundation.

Sharon resides in the Boston area with her three children. With her unwavering dedication, extensive expertise, and genuine care for the community, Sharon Shapiro is an invaluable asset to the Ruderman Family Foundation. Her leadership and commitment to building relationships ensure that the Foundation continues to make a tangible difference in the lives of those it serves, while also fostering a stronger and more connected community.

Michael Silverman is senior faculty in the Psychiatry Department at The Icahn Medical School at Mount Sinai. He is a dual trained psychologist, having completed his clinical training at Boston University and his cognitive science training at the Graduate Faculty at the New School for Social Research. He completed his post-doctoral training at Harvard University and in a fellowship in cognitive neuroimaging at Weil Medical College of Cornell University. As well as a working as a clinician, Silverman is also an academic researcher. His current research focuses on forwarding the understanding of mood and anxiety disorders. This work includes neuroanatomical, neurobiological (endocrinologic and neuroimmunologic), neurofunctional, psychometrics and epidemiologic perspectives. He is the primary investigator on two NIH studies. His book “Unleash Your Dreams” was published by John Wiley and Sons. Among his publications are the first neuroimaging study of postpartum depression, the first US population-based study of postpartum depression, and the largest population based epidemiological study of postpartum depression to date.