Dr. David Valle

Dr. Nara Lygia De Macena Sobreira is an assistant professor at the McKusick-Nathans Department of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her area of expertise is rare Mendelian phenotypes, analysis of next-generation sequencing, and functional testing of candidate causative variants. She earned her M.D. at the University of Pernambuco in Brazil. She finished her Ph.D. in Human Genetics at Johns Hopkins followed by a one-year postdoc also at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. During her Ph.D., she worked with Dr. David Valle using next-generation sequencing to elucidate the molecular basis of rare Mendelian phenotypes and in 2010 she discovered PTPN11 as the gene responsible for metachondromatosis by using whole-genome sequencing. She completed residencies in clinical genetics at both Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo and Johns Hopkins. Her main clinical and research focus is on identifying the genetic bases of rare phenotypes, mainly, phenotypes associated with cartilage tumors and vascular anomalies (including Ollier disease and Maffucci syndrome), and on understanding the physiopathology of these phenotypes to identify pharmacological strategies to treat them. She has worked extensively on developing strategies to better analyze the variants identified by next-generation sequencing and on novel strategies for data sharing. She participated on the development of PhenoDB, a phenotypic and genomic database, and created PhenoDB Variant Analysis Tool used worldwide. She is also one of the creators of GeneMatcher, VariantMatcher, and one of the co-founders of the Matchmaker Exchange, all intended to share next-generation sequencing data. She has also worked extensively on functional studies that evaluate the possible pathogenic effects of the candidate causative variants. Recent News Articles and Media Coverage Living the Hopkins Mission Honorees, Johns Hopkins Medicine Successes in Characterizing Genes through GeneMatcher with Nara L. M. Sobreira, MD, PhD, Ambry Genetics (April 30, 2018) Enfermedades raras: el desafio es encontrar otros pacientes que tienen el mismo mal, Lun (26 de septiembre de 2019) 2021 Science Writers' Boot Camp, Johns Hopkins Medicine (June 7, 2021) Making the Perfect Match, Johns Hopkins Medicine (February 1, 2020). Dr. De Macena Sobreira is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Imperforate Anus. Her top areas of expertise are Spondyloepimetaphyseal Dysplasia Strudwick Type, Greenberg Dysplasia, Blepharophimosis, and Early Infantile Epileptic Encephalopathy.

Nina Powell is a Pediatrics specialist and a Medical Genetics provider in Newark, Delaware. Dr. Powell is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Imperforate Anus. Her top areas of expertise are Microcephaly, Chromosome 13q Deletion, Increased Head Circumference, and Perlman Syndrome.

Dr. Gerald Raymond is a clinical geneticist and neurologist at Johns Hopkins where he is also a professor of genetic medicine and neurology. He obtained his MD at the University of Connecticut and was trained in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Neurology at the Mass. General Hospital. He received additional training in developmental neuropathology at the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium and clinical genetics at the Harvard Program. Dr. Raymond’s research has been at the overlap of genetics and neurology with specific focus on peroxisomal disorders including adrenoleukodystrophy. He has been actively involved in newborn screening for ALD and in developing clinical follow-up programs. He has extensive experience in clinical management of neurogenetic issues including peroxisomal and lysosomal disorders. He presently serves as the Director of the Lysosomal Storage Disease program in the department of Genetic Medicine. Dr. Raymond is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Imperforate Anus. His top areas of expertise are Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), CACH Syndrome, Zellweger Syndrome, and Leukodystrophy.