The Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health Leadership:
 Janet Hock, BDS, PhD, director of the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health brings a rare wealth of experience and leadership in research, academia, and industry.
Dr. Hock’s career of more than thirty years in the biosciences has been highlighted by several renowned achievements. In 1990, she received a prestigious Department of Veterans’ Affairs Clinical Investigator Award for research on parathyroid hormone mechanisms of action in bone. In 1991, she was recruited by the global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Company to head a program for the discovery and development of anabolic drugs for osteoporosis, and then to direct their skeletal research program. She was the lead scientist for Forteo® (recombinant parathyroid hormone), a first-in-class anabolic drug for the treatment of osteoporosis. In 2000, she joined the Indiana University Schools of Medicine and Dentistry (IU) in anatomy and cell biology, as well as periodontics. It was at IU that she received the Outstanding Female Faculty award and in 2004 the Certificate of Excellence as a mentor in the Diversity Scholars Research Program. She also founded and directed the Indiana University Cancer Center Bone Cancers Research program, and founded Thetis Consulting LLC, a scientific advisory firm focused on the treatment of skeletal diseases and bone cancer at IU.
Before becoming director of the Institute, Dr. Hock was vice president and global research and chief scientific officer at Aastrom Biosciences, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she served as an integral member of the senior management team participating in the direction of the company. At Aastrom Biosciences she managed all the company’s biological research activities and provided leadership to the preclinical research and clinical development of human cells for therapeutic use.
Under Dr. Hock’s leadership, the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health is focusing on cancer, genetics, and regenerative medicine.
Dr. Hock can be reached by calling (207)-973-6300, or by email at jhock@emh.org.
Publications
 Laurent (Larry) Beauregard, Jr., Ph.D. is associate director for Development at the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health; director of the Genetics Laboratory of Affiliated Laboratory, Inc. and genetics consultant to EMMC’s CancerCare of Maine to serve high risk cancer patients; all of these organizations are members of EMHS. Dr. Beauregard is a medical geneticist whose affiliation with Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) and EMHS spans more than 30 years. He is certified in Clinical Cytogenetics and Medical Genetics by the American Board of Medical Genetics. After completing his doctorate in genetics at Brown University in 1975, he became director of Genetics for EMMC Pediatrics. At that time it was for a community hospital in a rural part of the country to offer the services of a geneticist. EMMC’s forsight proved to be very wise, however, and that decision has greatly benefited Maine people.It has also placed EMMC’s Genetics program in the forefront of human genetic diagnostics and treatment.
As a member of the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health team, Dr. Beauregard has a strong interest in making science relevant to the community. The Genetics laboratory he directs provides a full range of cytogenetic and molecular cytogenetic services. The laboratory has a focus on chromosomal changes associated with cancer, and actively contributes to the work of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). As a consultant to EMMC’s CancerCare of Maine, Dr. Beauregard works directly with cancer patients and their families to assess their risk for having genetic mutations that are associated with hereditary cancer susceptibility including breast and ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer and others. His latest initiative is a program called the Health Legacy Project of Maine, a longitudinal study of cancer incidence and its causes in rural Maine. The regional collaborative project is designed to stimulate active community involvement in the design and implementation of cancer research studies.
In his role as the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health’s associate director for Development, Dr. Beauregard partners with EMHS Healthcare Charities to establish the philanthropic and business collaboration opportunities to support research to improve healthcare in our rural communities.
In 2004, Dr Beauregard was chosen by the New England Regional Genetics Group to receive the Allen Crocker Award for his contributions to clinical genetics. He was recently profiled in Progress magazine as one of the top 25 people to watch in 2006. Click here to read the article.
Dr. Beauregard can be reached by calling (207)-973-7357, or by e-mail at lbeauregard@emh.org
Publications
 Janet K. Bayleran, PhD is the first research scientist to be appointed to the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health. She earned her doctorate in human genetics at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec in 1989. Her affiliation with Eastern Maine Medical Center, Affiliated Healthcare Systems, Inc. and EMHS spans 15 years. Dr. Bayleran recently received funding from the National Cancer Institute to study the molecular profiles of breast cancer using DNA microarray technology. Her study will provide important information about key genes involved in the development and progression of breast cancer and will impact our understanding of tumor recurrence. The integration of genomic profile information with traditional methods of predicting outcome will improve the overall assessment of prognosis and lead to more effective, individualized interventional treatment. Although breast cancer is the focus of Dr. Bayleran’s current research, the methods of profiling cancer genes and preventing cancer recurrence could have far reaching application in treating and monitoring many other kinds of cancer. Other interests include studying molecular profiles of tumor cells isolated from circulation as an early predictor of tumor recurrence, epigenetic regulation in the development of cancer, and the contribution of environmental exposures to tumor formation.
Dr. Bayleran can be contacted by phone at (207)-973-7352 or by e-mail at jbayleran@emh.org.
Publications
 Ge Y. Fang, BS, is a Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health research assistant in Janet Bayleran’s, PhD, laboratory. Fang received her BS degree in Plant Physiology from Shanxi University in China in 1978. She worked in Shanxi Agriculture Academy from 1978-1989. Fang moved to the United States in 1991 and was a laboratory assistant at the University of Kentucky. She has lived in Maine since 1994 and has worked with Dr. Bayleran since 1998. Her research focuses on improving breast cancer prognosis and detecting recurrence at an earlier stage.
Ms. Fang can be contacted by phone at (207)-973-4012 or by e-mail at gfang@emh.org
 Denise S. Michaud, BS, earned her degree in Biology from the University of Maine in Fort Kent in 1997. She has worked with Janet Bayleran, PhD since 2001, first as assistant coordinator of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Brain and Tissue Bank, and more recently as a Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health research assistant. Her research focuses on improving breast cancer prognosis and detecting recurrence at an earlier stage.
Ms. Michaud can be contacted by phone at 207-973-4843 or by e-mail at dmichaud@emh.org
 Peng Liu, MD, PhD joined the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health in January, 2007 as a staff scientist, with a secondary appointment at The Jackson Laboratory. From 2005 to 2006, Dr. Liu was a team leader and senior scientist at the Ann Arbor, Michigan biotech company, Aastrom Biosciences, Inc., working on research to support commercialization of autologous adult stem cells for clinical use in orthopedics. His work received international recognition with the award of an American Society Bone and Mineral Research Young Investigator Award to a member of his group in 2006. Dr. Liu was an instructor in the department of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the University of Connecticut Health Center from 2001-2005, and a postdoctoral fellow from 1997-2001. He received his PhD (Cell Biology) from University of Sheffield, United Kingdom in 1997. He holds an MD (1985) and MS (Immunology, 1990) from Beijing University Medical Schools in China. Dr. Liu has published more than 17 peer-reviewed research articles on genetic manipulations to track stem cell fate in bone.
Dr Liu's lab is now located in The Jackson Laboratory as part of the group interested in bone research and skeletal genetics, which includes Drs. Wesley Beamer, Clifford J. Rosen and Janet M. Hock. Dr. Liu's research interests include: (1). Notch pathway on bone cell lineages. Notch proteins are transmembrane receptors, which are cleaved by the gamma-secretase complex upon activation and released from the cell membrane and turn into transcriptional activators after their association with SU(H) proteins. Notch signaling is involved in cell-cell communications that regulates a broad spectrum of cell-fate determinations. His goal is to understand how this pathway regulates osteoprogenitor cells and their lineage progression, and how deregulation of the pathway leads to osteoporosis, by using genetically modified, GFP transgenic and knockout mice.
Dr. Liu can be reached at (207)-288-6582 or by e-mail at peng.liu@jax.org.
Publications
 Debra Macaulay, administrative assistant for the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health, helps with the coordination of the institute’s leadership and researchers.
Ms. Macaulay has been a part of the EMHS family for many years. Most recently, she served as administrative services coordinator for The Acadia Hospital. A graduate of the University of Maine - with a degree in Business Administration – Ms Macaulay is president of the Maine Association of Healthcare Administrative Professionals.
Ms. Macaulay can be reached by calling (207)-973-4764, or by e-mail at dmacaulay@emh.org.
 Maryanne Yvon is project manager for the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health. She is responsible for overall program project management, and works closely with EMHS managers with regard to financial strategy, information systems, and the policies and processes of the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health. Progress on project managed plans is an integral part of performance evaluation for individual scientists and staff. Maryanne monitors the progress of project tasks, milestones, and timelines, as well as working with leaders of the research laboratories on the institute’s strategic plan.
Ms.Yvon was manager of SAP Operations at Hasbro Games in Massachusetts, where she implemented and supported SAP Enterprise Resource Planning Software. She has prior experience as a financial analyst at Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford, Connecticut and as an accounting supervisor at Gerber Technology, also in Connecticut. A graduate of Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire, Maryanne has a degree in accounting and earned the title of Certified Public Accountant in 1995 from the State of Texas.
Ms. Yvon can be reached by calling (207)-973-6508, or by e-mail at myvon@emh.org.
Agasanur Prahalad, Ph.D. is a visiting scientist at the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health and visiting assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, University of Maine, Orono. He earned his doctorate in Microbiology & Environmental Health from India. His early research centered on impact of human activity on the toxic heavy metals influx and dynamics in the lacustrine ecosystem. Through multidisciplinary research approach, he demonstrated that lake sediment not only acted as ‘sink’ to heavy metals but also as ‘source’ to the overlying water column for subsequent trophic transfer and biomagnifications. He presented his work as invited speaker in the first international conference on “Trace Metals in Lakes”, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1988. At the American Health Foundation, NY, he focused his research on the mechanism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-induced lung carcinogenicity. He was engaged in active research on the metabolic activation pathways, DNA adduction and tumorigenicity of PAHs that are active constituents of tobacco smoke. He was associated with the National Cancer Institute’s sponsored program project on the tobacco carcinogenesis on the biomarkers of exposures to carcinogens. He developed and validated benzene-derived blood protein adducts and benzene-specific urinary metabolites as biomarkers of low level exposures to benzene in cigarette smokers. Subsequently, with senior research associate award from the National Research Council, Washington D.C., he continued his research on the carcinogenicity of PAHs, particularly on dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DBP) at the U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA), North Carolina. He demonstrated carcinogenicity of DBP in mouse lung, the relevant target organ of choice for PAH-induced tumor formation. He continued his research endeavor on the health impacts of complex ambient air pollution particles at the U.S. EPA, in association with the toxicology curriculum at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. He was particularly interested in the particulate associated first row transition metals in mediating cellular oxidative burst resulting in airway hyper-reactivity, increased susceptibility to microbial infections, inflammation and DNA damage through generation of reactive oxygen metabolites that may contribute to the exacerbation of cardio-respiratory problems by particulate air pollution.
During the past four years at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr. Prahalad was actively engaged in proteomics research and cellular instability associated with the helicase gene mutated in the Rothmund Thomson syndrome. He uses proteomic platforms for expression difference mapping and utilizes subtractive and process proteomics to identify biomarkers from pre-clinical and clinical specimens. Recently, he published a paper in the Proteomics demonstrating that ProteinChip® platform can support the entire process from proteins expression difference mapping to evaluation test for drug responsiveness. He also showed that ProteinChip® technology can be exploited as a companion platform in process proteomics to guide identification of biomarker proteins. Recently, he has characterized the ex vivo-derived human bone marrow stromal and stem cells proteome, using ICAT coupled with LC-MS/MS proteomic technology. He continues to employ proteomics and ProteinChip® technology in his research at the Maine Institute Human Genetics Health, Maine to identify biomarkers in the areas of cancer and other diseases. He has over 25 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of environmental health, carcinogenesis, biochemical toxicology and proteomics.
Dr. Prahalad can be contacted by email: aprahalad@emh.org
agasanur.prahalad@umit.maine.edu
Elected Directors:
Mary R. Cathcart
Daniel B. Coffey
M. Michelle Hood
Deborah Carey Johnson, RN
Norman A. Ledwin
P. Jerry Whalen
Elected Officers:
Chair & President: M. Michelle Hood
Vice Chair: Mary R. Cathcart
Secretary: Leonard Giambalvo, Esq.
Treasurer & Vice President: Daniel B. Coffey
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