Our Leadership

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Olivia Chelko

Olivia Chelko is a nonprofit leader with more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and social impact organizations. Her expertise spans fund development, grant writing, program design, and executive management. Throughout her career, Olivia has expanded fundraising capacity, strengthened community engagement, and elevated organizational visibility by guiding mission-driven organizations through growth and change. She is recognized for her innovative, results-focused leadership and her commitment to amplifying the voices of vulnerable populations. Olivia holds a Master of Public Health from Emory University and a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Administration from the University of Georgia.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Our board of directors is 100% patient-led. Each member has had or currently has a spinal CSF leak.

In memoriam: Amanda J. Pickard, PhD

Jodi Ettenberg

President

Jodi Ettenberg is a former lawyer turned writer, public speaker, and photographer whose work and award-winning website, Legal Nomads, has been featured in the New York Times, BBC, The Guardian, and more. Her second career in food and travel writing was derailed by a spinal CSF leak that she sustained via a lumbar puncture in 2017. Her spinal CSF leak is ongoing as repairs have not held. Jodi now writes about curiosity and serves as an advocate for her conditions. She began volunteering for the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation in 2021 and joined the Board in 2022, where she has served since.

Kyle Spawn

Vice-President

Kyle Spawn is a former aerospace engineer and current pre-medical student. His career in engineering was interrupted by a spinal CSF leak caused by a complicated lumbar puncture. After pursuing treatment for multiple years, he finally had his leak localized and surgically repaired in 2022. Inspired by his own experiences, he opted to leave his field of aerospace engineering to pursue a career in medicine. He began volunteering for the Foundation shortly after his own leak was sealed, and later joined the Board in 2024.

Jen MacKenzie

Treasurer

Jen MacKenzie experienced spinal CSF leak symptoms for many years until her leak was found and surgically repaired in early 2023. She began volunteering in various capacities at the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation in early 2021, and then joined the Board in 2022. Jen then served as Board President 2023-2024, until filling the role of Acting Executive Director 2024-2025. Following Olivia’s hire as the Foundation’s new Executive Director, Jen returned to the Board as Treasurer. As Jen is still in the process of recovery and discovery in this post-leak era, she is prioritizing health and family.

Aubrey Bolan

Secretary

Aubrey Bolan has had her life disrupted twice by spontaneous spinal CSF leaks. She developed her most recent spinal CSF leaks in 2022, and faced significant challenges in pursuing care due to her negative imaging. In order to access the specialized imaging needed to locate her CSF-venous fistulas, Aubrey had to dive into medical literature and fiercely advocate for herself. Aubrey began volunteering for the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation once her CVFs were sealed in 2023, and joined the Board in 2024.

Martha Bond

Board Member

Martha was a critical care RN now currently working in oncology clinical research. She started to volunteer for the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation in 2017 after experiencing a spontaneous CSF leak in 2016. After 3 blood patches and a surgical repair that involved travelling out of country, she is symptom free. She joined the Board in 2021.

Isaac Brodsky

Board Member

Isaac Brodsky is a startup founder and software engineer in San Francisco, California, specializing in geospatial data analytics systems. He first experienced a spontaneous spinal CSF leak in 2011 related to Marfan syndrome. He began volunteering with the foundation on the Patient Advisory Panel for Research in 2021, and joined the Board in 2024.

Jennifer Schoon PT, DPT

Board Member

Jennifer Schoon is a Physical Therapist with over 15 years of experience before being diagnosed with a spinal CSF leak (spontaneous and iatrogenic) in 2014 which she continues to experience with limited functional uptime. She worked in a variety of settings and management roles: neurological, orthopedic and geriatrics. She uses her time now to manage her symptoms daily and advocate/ raise awareness on spinal CSF leak, including serving as Foundation representative on the Board of the Alliance of Headache Disorders Advocacy (AHDA). She holds a Doctor of Physical Therapy from The University of Findlay, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Healthcare Management from AIU, and Associate in Science from Vincennes University. She began as a volunteer in 2015 and later joined the Board that year.

Ellen Sung

Board Member

Ellen Sung is an executive coach and former management consultant. She worked at the Boston Consulting Group as both a talent manager and a project leader. She also previously worked as a print and online journalist. Her prior volunteer roles include serving on the national board of the Asian American Journalists Association and as a volunteer director for large-scale citizenship clinics in Seattle. Ellen had a spontaneous leak for at least 12 years; no imaging pinpointed a leak, but she was sealed in 2025 with a multi-level, non-targeted blood patch. She holds an MBA from Duke University and a BA in Economics from University of Chicago. Ellen joined the Board in 2026.

Leah Leavitt

Board Member

In 2013, Leah woke up with a spontaneous spinal CSF leak. She experienced significant roadblocks in diagnosis and treatment due to negative imaging. She eventually received successful treatment at a specialty leak center, but continued to develop new leaks for another four years. After ten epidural blood patches, she is now sealed and managing high-pressure symptoms. Leah is passionate about supporting others affected by spinal CSF leak and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute further in this role. She began volunteering for the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation in 2024 and joined the Board in 2026.

MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD

– listed alphabetically –

Timothy Amrhein, MD
Associate Professor
Director of Spine Intervention
Department of Radiology
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Andrew Callen, MD
Associate Professor of Neuroradiology and Neurology
Director, CU CSF Leak Program
Department of Radiology
University of Colorado, Aurora, CO

Ian Carroll, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Stanford Headache Clinic
Stanford University School of Medicine, Redwood City, CA

Jeremy Cutsforth-Gregory, MD
Director, CSF Dynamics Clinic
Associate Professor, Department of Neurology
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Connie Deline, MD
Founder, Spinal CSF Leak Foundation
Camp Hill, PA

Vinay Deshmukh, MD, FACS
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
Co-Director, MGUH CSF Leak Center
Neurosurgical Director, MedStar Spine Governance Council
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Deborah Friedman, MD, MPH
Neuro-Ophthalmologist and Headache Medicine Specialist
Yellow Rose Headache and Neuro-Ophthalmology
Dallas, TX

Peter G. Kranz, MD
Professor of Radiology
Chief, Neuroradiology Division Duke University Medical Center
Founder and Co-President, International Society for Spinal CSF Leak (ISSCL)
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Linda Gray Leithe, MD
Medical Associate Professor of Radiology, Neuroradiology
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Peter Lennarson, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Practice, Neurosurgery

Director, CU CSF Dynamics Surgical Program

Director, Neurosurgery Trauma Program
University of Colorado, Aurora, CO

Charles Louy, PhD, MD, MBA
Los Angeles, CA

Ajay Madhavan, MD
Associate Professor of Radiology
Department of Radiology
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Mark Mamlouk, MD
Neuroradiology Lead of The Permanente Medical Group
Director, Spinal CSF Leak Program
Assistant Clinical Professor, Radiology
Kaiser Permanente/University of California San Francisco
Santa Clara, CA

Marcel Maya, MD, FACR
Professor of Radiology, Neuroradiology Section
Co-Chair, Department of Imaging
S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center
Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA

Abhay Moghekar, MBBS (Chair)
Associate Professor of Neurology, Otolaryngology, and Neurosurgery
Research Director, Hydrocephalus and Cerebral Fluid Center
Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD

Simy Parikh, MD
Associate Professor of Neurology
Department of Headache Medicine, Neurology
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA

Jill Rau, MD, PhD
Neurologist and Headache Specialist
Chair, Special Interest Group on CSF Pressure Disorders, American Headache Society
HonorHealth Neuroscience Institute, Scottsdale, AZ

Wouter Schievink, MD
Professor of Neurosurgery
Director, Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak Program
Director, Vascular Neurosurgery Program
Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA

Stephen Silberstein, MD
Professor of Neurology
Director, Jefferson Headache Center
Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA

In Memoriam:
Bahram Mokri, MD of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Served from 2015-2017