Neuroscience Center | Neuroscience Family Advisory Council

Belle Gallant

Belle graduated from Bridgewater State University in 2019 with a bachelor’s in psychology. She joined Boston Children’s Hospital in 2020 in the multidisciplinary Spina Bifida and Spinal Cord Conditions Center, then transitioned into her role as a program coordinator for NFAC and Dr. Benjamin Warf. During her time in the Spina Bifida and Spinal Cord Conditions Center, Belle realized how much work must be done to create a positive patient and family experience.

Belle is excited to be part of NFAC to help patients and families navigate their journeys; she hopes to do this by helping provide resources and education as well as breaking down barriers to care that families may face.

Dylan Keusch

Chair
Member since 2019

Dylan was introduced to Boston Children’s Hospital in 2019 when he suffered a traumatic brain injury at swim practice. His incredible care under the Department of Neurosurgery and the Brain Injury Center inspired him to pursue medicine in the hopes that he could help others like himself.

Dylan is a junior at Cornell University, studying industrial and labor relations with a minor in health policy. At school, he is a member of the campus EMS agency, writes for a health care policy journal, is the medical enrichment chair of a pre-medical fraternity, and is on the men’s lightweight rowing team. Outside of school, he is a firefighter/EMT in a local community and is a research intern in the Department of Neurosurgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. His clinical interests include moyamoya disease, traumatic brain injury, and global neurosurgery inequities.

After school, Dylan hopes to attend medical school in the hopes of becoming a neurosurgeon.

Abby Buckley

Member since 2021

Hi, my name is Abby Buckley. I’m a student at Saint Louis University studying neuroscience and public health. I’ve been a patient at Boston Children’s Hospital for years.

In 2018, I was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation. Over time, my symptoms rapidly progressed until I had to undergo brain surgery. Since surgery, I have dealt with some chronic symptoms, including chronic pain, for which I was admitted to the Mayo Family Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center. I have seen both the neuroscience and pain management departments for years, and they have been wonderful.

Being part of this group has been amazing! My interest in neuroscience and getting to work with a diverse group of individuals has been a transformative experience.

Lynette and Jim Cavanaugh

Members since 2020

Experience/Areas of interest: Neuroscience, neurosurgery, in- and outpatient visits, family communication, and education.

Lynette and Jim have both worked in the medical device and biotech industry for over 25 years, spending the last 14+ years in the Boston area. Having been in the industry and around hospitals for this amount of time, they appreciate the challenges and differences for hospitals in treating pediatric patients. As parents whose children have both been treated at Boston Children’s, they understand the emotional and psychological toll experienced by family members.

Their son sustained a concussion in middle school while playing sports. Without the expertise of Boston Children’s physicians, he would have been back playing in a couple of days instead of the four weeks it took for him to fully recover from headaches and the ability to focus on schoolwork. In addition, when she was in her late teens, their daughter experienced headaches every day for several months. She was eventually diagnosed with a Chiari malformation. Lynette and Jim have a very deep appreciation for the education, collaboration, care, and follow-up the neuroscience and neurosurgery teams provided during her journey to full recovery.

Being members of the NFAC is a way for Lynette and Jim to give back to Boston Children’s Hospital and share their journey with others. They have already helped a few other families going through similar experiences. They look to continue to work with others with other family advisors and hospital staff to improve the education, communication, and care for patients and families who come to Boston Children’s.

Bridget Drummey

Member since 2021

Experience/Areas of interest: Neurology, epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, neuroradiology, EEG, TMS, early seizure intervention, inpatient stays, public health, health equity.

Bridget is from Western Massachusetts and is a senior at Emmanuel College studying biology and neuroscience. She was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 3 and has been seen by the Epilepsy Center at Boston Children’s since. Bridget has always been grateful to and admired the staff at Boston Children’s for their high-quality care. She joined NFAC to give back to the hospital and support other neuroscience patients like herself. Having grown up with seizures, she has developed an interest in neurology and health advocacy and plans to build a career in that field.

Bridget has worked on various projects with the Epilepsy Foundation of New England over the years. In 2021, she was part of a team that met with the staff of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Richie Neal to lobby for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill to be passed at a federal level. This was passed for Fiscal Year 2022 and allocated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention $13 million to provide public school personnel with seizure first-aid training. In addition, Bridget was one of 33 out of more than 600 applicants from around the country to be awarded the UCB Family Epilepsy Scholarship in 2020.

At Emmanuel, Bridget plays the trumpet for the school’s Pep Band and works for the Academic Resource Center as a French tutor. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, going to concerts, and expanding her vintage record collection.

Yvonne Keusch

Member since 2019

Yvonne is a wife and mother of four. Her oldest son, Dylan (also serving on NFAC), was a healthy and extremely active 17-year-old when he randomly suffered a fainting episode that resulted in a traumatic acute right fronto-parietal-temporal subdural hematoma and bilateral hemorrhagic contusions. He was admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital for a week, discharged, and then suffered a seizure at home. While this was an extremely trying time for Yvonne and her family, they were incredibly grateful for the world-class medical attention they received at Boston Children’s. Dylan’s care involved various subspecialties at Boston Children’s, each playing a critical role in his recovery. The Brain Injury Center, in particular, went above and beyond to offer its support and expertise in the area of traumatic brain injuries.

Yvonne joined NFAC in hopes of being able to support other families undergoing similar experiences. She recognizes the importance of having resources outside the medical community that families and patients can access for additional support and perspective.

Sophia Kocher

Member since 2021

Experience/Areas of Interest: Moyamoya disease, pediatric vascular neurosurgery, rare diseases, emergency medicine, street medicine, orthopedic surgery, regenerative medicine and research, and patient advocacy.

At age 2, Sophia was diagnosed with moyamoya disease, a rare and progressive neurovascular disorder in which the internal carotid arteries that supply blood to the brain become narrowed. She underwent pial synangiosis surgery at Boston Children’s to bypass the narrowed vessels and restore blood flow to her brain. Sophia has remained connected to the hospital that changed her life. Prior to joining NFAC, she served on the Teen Advisory Committee. She has also conducted research in the clinical and laboratory settings with the neurosurgery and orthopedics departments at Boston Children’s. Sophia is passionate about advocacy and using her experience to improve outcomes for patients like her. She serves as the head of the Patient Advocacy Committee on the Board of Directors of the Moyamoya Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at increasing awareness for and improving research on moyamoya disease. She frequently speaks about living with moyamoya to help patients and their families feel supported and heard.

As part of NFAC, Sophia hopes to help incorporate the voices of patients and their families with the neurosciences at Boston Children’s. From her personal experience, she has learned that how care is provided is equally important as what care is provided, and she is eager to foster projects, initiatives, and decisions that promote these patient-centered perspectives. Sophia hopes that by increasing dialogue and connectivity between patients and their providers, she can improve patient care while giving back to the community at Boston Children’s, which means so much to her.

Olivia Mary Sieler

Danielle Ashworth