MaryAnn Volpe, MD
IRB Chair

Dr. Volpe is a researcher and attending physician in the Division of Newborn Medicine at The Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center and is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at Tufts University School of Medicine.

She has been a member of the IRB since 2006 and IRB Vice Chair since 2013. She is also a member of several institutional committees, and assisted in developing the Tufts University School of Medicine Student Coaching Program in which she now holds a position as Faculty Coach. She is also the Program Chairperson of the New England Perinatal Society, a regional society bringing together scientists from the fields of Neonatology and Maternal Fetal Medicine.

Dr. Volpe has both clinical and basic science research experience in molecular regulation of lung airway and vascular development and early lung biologic events after preterm birth that contribute to the development of infant lung disease. She has also been an investigator in innovational educational strategies and preterm infant nutrition. She is board certified in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. She is the recipient of funding from federal, national and regional sources.

Dr. Volpe graduated from New York University and the Dartmouth Medical School/Geisel School of Medicine. She completed her residency in pediatrics at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center and completed neonatal –perinatal medicine fellowship at The Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center.

Gordon S. Huggins, MD
IRB Vice-Chair

Gordon Huggins has been a member of the IRB since 2006 and was appointed Vice-Chair in 2010.

Dr. Huggins is an attending physician in the Division of Cardiology at Tufts Medical Center and is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute Center for Translational Genomics. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease.

He is a member of several institutional committees, including the MD/PhD Graduate Student Selection Committee at Tufts University Graduate School of Biomedical Science and the Fellowship Selection Committee for the Cardiovascular Division at Tufts Medical Center. He is also the Co-Director of the MD/PhD Program at Tufts University.

Dr. Huggins has both clinical and basic science research experience as a Principal Investigator with specific interest in analysis of human traits and disease as a discovery platform for biological studies, genetic susceptibility to vascular disease and obesity, and molecular regulation of gene expression in cardiomyocytes and cardiomyocyte precursor cells.

He is also the recipient of several federal grants and has authored numerous journal publications, abstracts, and books chapters.

Dr. Huggins was graduated from Boston University and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine and a clinical cardiology fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Terry T. Howard, MD
IRB Vice-Chair

Terry Howard, MD graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1969.  He completed his surgical internship and residency at Beth Israel Hospital and went on to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Boston Hospital for Women by competing a residency there. He is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He has clinical research experience in the field of infertility issues and Radioimmunoassay development. 

Dr. Howard previously served as the Chair of the Clinical Research Review Committee (CRRC), the IRB at Lowell General Hospital since 2005. During the 2022 integration of Lowell General Hospital and Tufts Medical Center into Tufts Medicine, Dr. Howard was appointed as Vice-Chair for the Tufts Health Sciences IRB

Dr. Howard has also served on the Lowell Community Health Center Board of Directors, serving a diverse, low-income population since 2002. 

Leslie Rideout, PhD, FNP, BSN
IRB Vice-Chair

Dr. Rideout currently serves as the Professional Development Director, The Robin and David Jaye Center for Nursing Excellence and facilitates the professional growth, role competence and proficiency for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN). She previously served as the pediatric trauma nurse coordinator for Tufts Children’s Hospital from 2002-2022. She developed a student internship program in the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute in 2002, mentoring more than 35 students, including college students, medical school students and premed students.

Dr. Rideout completed her BS degree (1983) in Education from the University of Southern Maine, BSN degree (1993) from the University of Massachusetts Boston, MSN degree (1997) in the family nurse practitioner program from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and her PhD (2012) from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and Association for Nursing Professional Development.

Maher Ghamloush, MD
IRB Vice-Chair

Maher Ghamloush has been a member of the IRB since 2014 and was appointed Vice-Chair in 2020.

Dr. Ghamloush is an Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and an attending physician in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at Tufts Medical Center. He is board certified in pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine. He is the medical director for the pulmonary function laboratory and is the director of the pulmonary pathology conference at Tufts Medical Center.

Dr. Ghamloush has a wide range of research experience including basic science research investigating pulmonary endothelial permeability and neutrophil trans-endothelial migration. His clinical research interests involve investigating acute respiratory failure in the setting of cardiogenic pulmonary edema and the diagnostic role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing.