About the HHV-6 Foundation

Board of Directors

Dharam Ablashi, Scientific Director

Dr. Ablashi is co-discoverer of the HHV-6 virus, is the Scientific Director of the HHV-6 Foundation and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Ablashi was Coordinator of DNA Virus Studies at the National Cancer Institute before becoming Director of Herpesvirus Programs at Advanced Biotechnologies. An Adjunct Professor in microbiology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, he co-edited the book Human Herpesvirus 6 and has authored or co-authored over 300 journal articles on herpes viruses. He recently finished a term as President of the American Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or AACFS, which he co-founded.

Kristin Loomis, Co-Founder, President & Executive Director

Kristin is Co-founder, President and Executive Director of the Foundation. A graduate of Wellesley and Harvard Business School, Kristin was a publishing and marketing executive before devoting herself full time to non-profit activities. Kristin directs the HHV-6 Foundation staff, administers the Foundation’s advocacy and coordinates research efforts along with the Scientific Director. She was instrumental in persuading Roche to fund Stanford’s placebo controlled trial and has initiated several important collaborations between scientists. Kristin became interested in HHV-6 after a family member fell ill with subacute HHV-6A encephalitis.

Mona Eliassen, Chairman of the Board

Mona is the founder of Eliassen Group, Inc., an industry leader in the IT consulting and staffing industry. Chosen as a finalist in 1998 for Ernst & Young's "Entrepreneur of the Year," Mona has since been inducted into the Women's Business "Hall of Fame" and selected as Incentive Magazine's "Motivator of the Year." Mona earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Boston University.


Michael Manson

A graduate of Stanford and Harvard Business School, Michael co-founded several companies including PETsMART and Motor Excellence LLC - a new electric motor group. He serves as the Managing Member of Brookstone Ventures, a diversified land development and angel investment firm, and acts as an affiliate and advisor to several venture capital and startup organizations. Michael holds several patents and received the US. Presidential Award for Excellence in Environmental Design. He served on the Phoenix Mayor’s Advisory Council and is an active leader of the Arizona Boy Scouts of America and his church.  Despite these accomplishments, Michael considers his greatest achievement is surviving and recovering from a 17 year battle with HHV-6 and EBV related Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. 

Daniel Peterson, MD

A pioneer in the treatment of subacute HHV-6A central nervous system infections in patients with chronic fatigue, Dr. Peterson runs one of the busiest chronic fatigue clinics in the country in Incline Village, Nevada. After an outbreak of chronic fatigue in his region in the 1980's, Peterson observed that a subset of his patients with hypersomnia and neurocognitive   problems also have HHV-6A in the spinal fluid. Peterson, who has worked for twenty years to raise awareness of HHV-6 as a subtle but debilitating and persistent pathogen, encouraged Whittemore and Loomis to join forces in the spring of 2004. Peterson recently presented data and the International Conference on Fatigue Science, that he has found HHV-6A DNA in 20% of their spinal fluid from patients with predominantly neurocognitive or CNS symptoms.  

Scientific Advisory Board

Scientific Director

Executive Director and Staff

Board of Directors

About the Foundation