GYM Staff
Rose Perry, PhD - Founding Partner
Dr. Perry is an applied research scientist, with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience & Physiology from New York University. Her research examines social determinants of health and resilience, particularly as it pertains to understanding the role that relationships play in fostering optimal health, learning, and development. Through her work at Social Creatures, Dr. Perry and her team have translated social neuroscience research findings to real-world settings for the creation of evidence-based social connectedness programming, for the improvement of quality of life for children and families. Through Dr. Perry’s applied research, she has also served as a consultant for several nonprofit and for-profit social impact organizations (e.g., Sesame Street in Communities, NABU, Studio Elsewhere, Brooklyn Nets), to translate social neuroscience research findings and methodology to applied childcare, healthcare, and high-performance settings.
David Putrino, PT, PhD - Founding Partner
David is a physical therapist with a PhD in Neuroscience. He worked as a clinician in Australia, before moving to the United States to study computational neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, MIT and NYU. He has served as a faculty member at Weill-Cornell Medicine and Burke Medical Research Institute. He is currently the Director of Rehabilitation Innovation for the Mt Sinai Health System, and an Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and Human Performance at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai. He works to develop innovative technology solutions for individuals in need of better healthcare accessibility. He consults with the Red Bull High Performance division to use evidence-based technologies to improve athletic performance. He is also the “Chief Mad Scientist” of Not Impossible Labs, a group that crowd-sources accessible technological solutions for high-impact humanitarian problems. David’s research has been featured on the ABC, Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, Time Magazine, TEDx, Wired and the New York Times to name just a few. He is the author of Hacking Health: How to make money and save lives in the HealthTech world, which is available from Amazon and Springer-Nature. In 2019, he was named "Global Australian of the Year" for his contributions to healthcare.
Jennifer Leigh Dym - Founding Partner
Leigh has a BS in Marketing and Business Administration, and worked in store management, buying and sourcing for major corporations. While recently living in Israel, Leigh worked with the Tel Aviv Rape Crisis Center and free-lanced with grass roots peace initiatives. She assisted at St. Joseph’s Hospital, caring for Palestinian children. Leigh connected the English-speaking community with opportunities to help care for children of poverty-stricken asylum-seeking African women living in Israel. In the summer of 2014, after six babies died of preventable deaths in five weeks, Leigh worked with the Unitaf organization to put forth a business plan to close the “baby warehouse” daycares and switch to a smaller care model, currently being piloted. Currently, Leigh serves as the Founder/Executive Director of STEAMpark, INC.
Angelica Russo, MA, LPC - Program Therapy Advisor
Angelica is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified NJ School Counselor. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Kean University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware. Angelica’s clinical areas of interest include families and children experiencing divorce, familial upset, grief/bereavement, anger management, self-esteem support, anxiety, and social skills training. She also has experience providing intensive in-home counseling to at-risk youth and families. During her time working in public schools, she developed and delivered social emotional lessons to K-5 students. Angelica currently provides psychotherapy to children, adolescents, and young adults and is the Social Emotional Learning Director for Social Creatures.
Jason Kaulfers - Program Advisor
Jason has over ten years of experience in a public school classroom setting across Pre-K through the High School level. Having received his Bachelor’s Degree from Kean University and becoming NJ Teacher certified in English and Special Education, he is currently a Special Education teacher in Boonton, NJ. After school, Jason empowers young women outside of the classroom, teaching life lessons through the sports of basketball and Track and Field. Jason is also a graduate student at Kean University, pursuing a Masters of Arts in Special Education with a concentration in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities.
Christine Howell - Academic Advisor
Ms. Howell has a M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction, BS in Psychology, and holds teaching certifications in Elementary Education (K-6th) and Special Education. As the Curriculum director for STEAMpark, INC, she provides curriculum, lessons, materials and teaching support used in the various programs provided. Christine has worked in public, private, and charter schools throughout New Jersey specializing in Special Education. Currently she is employed at a charter school in Vineland providing special education services to students grades K to eight. Christine enjoys hiking, shopping and spending time with her family when she is not working. Christine loves animals and has a dog, two cats, and a western hognose snake.
Erica Breyman - Program Coordinator
Erica Breyman completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Brandeis University with a dual major in Biology and Chemistry with a concentration in Chemical Biology. She is a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Abilities Research Center and the Charles Lazarus Children’s Abilities Center at Mount Sinai Hospital. There, she focuses on neurorehabilitation technologies for individuals with neurological injuries and telehealth strategies for various patient populations. As an aspiring physician, Erica aims to combine her passion for medicine and teaching to support students pursuing careers in STEM.
Mackenzie Doerstling - Program Coordinator
Mackenzie Doerstling has a BS in Exercise Science and a Masters of Public Health. Her career has included working in a variety of settings with special populations such as Division 1 athletes, cancer survivors and those with pulmonary diseases. Currently, she works as a Program Manager for the Abilities Research Center and the Charles Lazarus Children’s Abilities Center at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Mackenzie’s professional passion is to promote health and work toward innovative advances in patient care. In her free time, she enjoys reading, exercising, cooking and cuddling with her dog!
Micaeli (Cakie) Dym - STEAMpark Liason
Micaeli is a junior at High Technology High School. She has been working with STEAMpark since its founding in 2017, when she helped out as an instructional aide in the Keansburg STEAMpark Academy program and began working with the teen board. Since then, STEAMpark has played a huge part in her life with her roles as the teen board co-president and a computer science instructor for the STEMgirls program, and with her work in the Generational Youth Mentorship program. In her free time, she likes playing music and hanging out with her friends, family, or pets.
Andy Ribner - Program Design and Evaluation
Dr. Ribner is a postdoctoral scholar in the Kids’ Thinking Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. His primary area of study is on the development of children's self-regulatory skills and their role in math learning in and out of classroom settings. Additionally, he studies the antecedents and consequences of screen-based media use in young children. Outside of research, he enjoys cooking, baking, hiking, camping, and giving into the demands of his 70lb dog who acts like a baby.
Annie Brandes-Aitken - Program Design and Evaluation
Annie Brandes-Aitken is currently a Ph.D. student at New York University. As a researcher, she aims to uncover sources of social support that promote resilience for children exposed to early life adversity or who are living with a developmental disability. Through her work, she has gained expertise in large-scale data analytics and on-the-ground health assessments. Using tools from neuroscience and psychology, Annie is committed to creating social connectedness for all individuals.
Stephen Braren, PhD - Program Design and Evaluation
Sephen Braren is a developmental psychologist investigating how social and environmental contexts shape child psychological and brain development. His research focuses on the role of social interactions in buffering the effects of stress or adversity on children. His work aims to improve health and education outcomes for children and families.
Sarah Vogel - Program Design and Evaluation
Sarah Vogel is a doctoral student in developmental psychology at New York University. Broadly, her research focuses on children's psychological, neurological, and physical adaptations to early life stress.
