ITA Welcomes New Board Members

Learn all about the two newest additions to our Board of Directors

ITA would like to extend a warm welcome to our two newest board members, Dr. Borna Bonakdarpour and Leslie Chamberlain. Read on to learn more about them:

Borna Bonakdarpour, MD

Borna Bonakdarpour, MD

Borna Bonakdarpour received his medical degree from Tehran University of Medical Sciences. His doctoral research on aphasia therapy using music received international attention and brought him to Northwestern University for his research fellowship in aphasia rehabilitation and neuroimaging of language. Following that he finished his residency in neurology at The University of Arizona and Rosenstone cognitive neurology clinician/investigator fellowship at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer Disease Center (CNADC) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM). He is board certified in neurology and behavioral neurology and was recently received a 5-year career development award by the NIH to study pathophysiology of primary progressive aphasia using functional and structural neuroimaging. He is also an active member of the CNADC clinical trials team and primary investigator of the Connect trial for Alzheimer disease.

Aside from research/scientific lectures he has been giving invited lectures for patients and family members, medical and physician assistant students, neurology residents and fellows, primary care physicians and medical specialists caring for patients with cognitive impairments and dementias. Dr. Bonakdarpour has authored more than 40 publications, including original scientific papers, reviews, and book chapters. He was recently elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN).

Leslie Chamberlain

Leslie Chamberlain, Associate Director of DePaul Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) network & Alumni Career Services, oversees ASK and alumni career programming. Before joining the DePaul Career Center Leslie came from DePaul’s Center for Sales Leadership where she worked as the Manager of Corporate Relations/Operations. In that role, Leslie managed the corporate partners program as well as designed and executed student and alumni engagement opportunities. Leslie has also been in the classroom where she has taught MKT 376 (Effective Business Communication), MKT 398 (Sales for Social Impact), and UIP 240 (Career Pathways).

Leslie’s background is varied and interesting. She has a Bachelor’s of Music in Music Therapy from Ohio University and a Masters of Music Therapy from Temple University. She worked in music therapy before she and her husband joined the U.S. Peace Corps where she served as Peace Corps Community Youth Development Advisor in Bayankhongor, Mongolia for two years.

If you or someone you know is interested in serving on our Board of Directors, please contact Executive Director, Jenni Rook.