Ricky is the CEO and Founder of PSC Partners serving in a volunteer capacity. After having led the life of a health nut for decades, Ricky Safer was shocked to receive her PSC diagnosis in 2003, and then to discover that there was little accurate information or support available for PSC patients. Still reeling from her recent diagnosis, Ricky decided she didn’t want to wait around to see if things would improve. In 2004, with the help of her family, her hepatologist (Dr. Everson) and two friends from the support group (Lee Bria and David Rhodes), Ricky founded PSC Partners Seeking A Cure. Ricky’s years of volunteering with CCFA locally and nationally and her position on the board of the Donor Awareness Council provided her with the background to get PSC Partners Seeking a Cure off the ground. Ricky has served on the Nutritional Panel for CCFA, and also received the CCFA Sigman award.

Ricky feels extremely lucky to have her family as her loyal support group and constant helpers. One of her greatest joys is spending time with her family—her husband (Don), daughter and son-in-law (Elissa and Steven), son and daughter-in-law (Adam and Sue), and grandkids (Sam, Lily, Rowan, and Hudson). She enjoys her role as CEO of PSC Partners, and continues to be passionate about finding a cure for PSC, and making life better for all PSCers. In Ricky’s other life, she taught foreign languages and provided cross-cultural training at the University of Denver. Ricky received her B.A. in French with honors from the University of Michigan, and her Master of Arts in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University. Ricky can be reached at contactus@pscpartners.org.  (Full-Time Volunteer)

Monica Crowley, J.D., serves as the Chief Strategy & Planning Officer and Senior Counsel at Central Health, the Travis County Hospital District. In this role, she leads strategic planning efforts and integrates state and federal health care policies with system development, while also managing the transformation of critical partnerships and affiliations. Monica was instrumental in the development of Central Health’s 7-year Healthcare Equity Plan, which charts the strategic focus for the organization and includes the first safety-net focused community health needs assessment and a clinical capacity and gap analysis for the Austin/Travis County area.

With over 25 years of experience, Monica has a distinguished background as an advocate and attorney for public entities and non-profit organizations. Her career includes extensive work in strategic planning, health care law and public policy, legal and governmental affairs, and criminal enforcement. Prior to joining Central Health, Monica served as Vice President of Strategic Communication and Policy at Lone Star Circle of Care. In her role as Executive Director of the Austin Fund for Quality Healthcare, she was instrumental in leading the public education campaign that supported Central Health’s 2012 tax rate increase election, which supported the establishment of a medical school at The University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, Monica served as a white-collar criminal attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Monica earned her undergraduate degree from Austin College and her law degree from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. She is the chair of the board of PSC Partners Seeking a Cure, an international organization dedicated to research and advocacy to develop treatments for primary sclerosing cholangitis, and has served as the board chair of Caritas of Austin, a non-profit focused on ending homelessness in Central Texas.

James (Matt) McMurtry, MD, first became connected with PSC Partners in 2015 after participating in a charity bike ride. He was gobsmacked by the positive, “can‑do” spirit of the community! He has a family member with PSC. A retired surgeon now living in Winston‑Salem, North Carolina, he has attended every annual PSC Partners conference since then. He continues to be active in funding, patient support, education, and research.

Britt Moore is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and works with families of children diagnosed with developmental disabilities. She completed her undergraduate degree at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and her Master’s Degree at Western Michigan University, both in Psychology. Britt currently works with families and caregivers teaching them to use behavior analytic principles to enhance their children’s appropriate behavior and learn new skills in their home environment.

Britt was diagnosed with PSC in the fall of 2011 and was able to attend her first conference in the spring of 2012 in her very own Minnesota. She says she was blown away by the friendships and knowledge she gained while at the conference and has been involved ever since. She lives in Saint Paul with her husband and three children. They love to get out when the weather allows it; gardening, golfing, skiing, camping, and listening to music.

Scott Malat, CFA, attended his first PSC Partners Conference looking for more information after his wife was diagnosed in 2005. At that conference, he was amazed to find such a talented, dedicated group of volunteers that immediately treated him like family. Scott joined the board of directors to help the organization manage its explosive growth and invest in finding a cure.

Scott previously served as the chief strategy officer of XPO Logistics, where he led the strategy that grew XPO from less than $200 million in revenue to over $17 billion in 32 countries, with 1,525 locations and more than 100,000 employees. Prior to XPO, Scott worked at Goldman Sachs, UBS, and JP Morgan Chase. Scott is a CFA® charterholder and has a degree in statistics with a concentration in business management from Cornell University.

Jesse Kirkpatrick, MD, PhD, is an Internal Medicine resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Board Member of PSC Partners. A bioengineer and hepatologist‑in‑training, he has been dedicated to the PSC community since 2010. His research focuses on nanoparticle‑based early detection of bile duct cancer and engineering “bile ducts in a dish” to uncover the mechanisms driving PSC. He co‑chaired the Pathophysiology of PSC – Inflammation and Fibrosis working group at the 2024 PSC Partners ICRN convening, representing the PSC patient community.

Mahesh Krishna, MD was diagnosed with PSC when he was only 15 years old. As a kid, it was difficult for him to learn that he had this incurable, progressive, chronic disease that would eventually lead to a liver transplant. He felt uncertain and unsure about what the future would hold. He says that PSC Partners was a vital resource for him during those first few years in helping him feel like he could live a full life with PSC.

Mahesh has been to several PSC Partners conferences with his family and has loved being part of the welcoming community. He has volunteered for PSC Partners as a writer about his experience and about the latest scientific literature on PSC, as a moderator for his peer group, as a mentor to new conference attendees, as part of the research committee, and as a patient co-chair of the microbiome ICRN working group. He genuinely believes that PSC Partners will make a difference in helping find a cure. Mahesh is a currently a resident physician in internal medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital. He graduated from Johns Hopkins for medical school and Rice University for undergraduate. He hopes to find an effective therapy for PSC in the future so that no other kid has to feel like he did when he was first diagnosed. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his partner, playing basketball and chess, rooting for Philly sports teams, and playing with his 2 cats (Hades and Yves).

Fred Sabernick was diagnosed with PSC in 2004, and upon becoming symptomatic he attended his first PSC Partners Conference in 2009. He quickly bonded with the people and organization of PSC Partners, and credits the friendship and support he received for helping manage his disease. After worsening health he received a liver transplant in 2012.

He volunteered with PSC Partners in a number of roles before joining the Board, and has previously volunteered in adult literacy education and as a youth hockey referee. He holds a MSEE from the University of Florida and has been employed in the electronics and computer industry for over thirty-five years, and has traveled extensively both in North America and overseas. He enjoys running, woodworking, and trying (failing) to keep up with current technology, and has called the Atlanta, GA area home since 1997.

Leah became involved with PSC Partners in 2018, shortly after her family’s own experience with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). The support and resources provided by the PSC Partners community were invaluable to her, inspiring Leah to actively contribute to the organization’s mission to find a cure for PSC. As a passionate advocate, she is deeply committed to furthering the organization’s efforts and bringing hope to those impacted by this rare disease.

In addition to her role as President at a wealth management firm based in Boston, MA, Leah has served on several non-profit boards, leveraging her strategic insights and dedication to advancing the missions of these organizations.

Beyond her career and philanthropic activities, Leah enjoys spending time with her husband and three young boys. She enjoys making the most of family time through adventure travel, enjoying the outdoors and cooking at home!

Trish Stoltzfus first became aware of PSC after her 16 year old son was diagnosed with PSC in 2010. She attended her first PSC Partners conference in 2012, and quickly realized what an outstanding organization it is. As so many individuals have said – it is the family you never wanted and wouldn’t know what to do without! As a way to become involved, she became the Mentor/Mentee coordinator for the annual conferences beginning in 2015. In 2018 she helped PSC Partners convince the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) of the need for a unique ICD-10-CM code (K83.01) and the impact it would have on finding possible treatments and eventually a cure for PSC.

Trish is the Director of Coding and HIM Systems for UPMC Pinnacle in Central Pennsylvania and has worked in Health Information Management more than 35 years. She lives in Harrisburg, PA, and has two adult sons. One has settled in Ohio with his wife, and her PSCer lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, living life to its fullest!

A heartfelt thank you to our passionate and dedicated Board of Directors for guiding us in all the major decisions for the organization.

Joanne Hatchett, RN, FNP, ACHPN, is the Sr. Advisor for Medical Science and Patient Advocacy for PSC Partners. Most recently, Joanne was a full-time staff member as the Medical Science Liaison. Prior to joining the staff at PSC Partners, she was a family nurse practitioner. Joanne is a strong advocate for advance care planning and patient and family education, and, before accepting a full-time position at PSC Partners, was a member of our Board of Directors. Additionally, she is a PSC caregiver. Joanne graduated from San Francisco State University with a BSN, and received both her MSN as a Cardiopulmonary Clinical Nurse Specialist and Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s certification from the University of California, San Francisco. (Volunteer)

Rachel serves as the Senior Advisor for the PSC Partners Patient Registry in a volunteer capacity and has been an active member of the PSC Partners community for many years. Rachel was instrumental in the development, launch, and growth of the patient registry, and she serves on the Board of Directors for PSC Partners Seeking a Cure Canada. Rachel Gomel’s commitment to PSC Partners began in 2008 when she attended the Jacksonville conference. Rachel holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Her Ph.D. work at McGill University was cross-disciplinary (in Philosophy of History, Comparative Literature, and Literary Criticism) and earned her three Canada Council awards. She left McGill University shortly after her third child was born. Her husband, three children and their families are the center of her life. (Volunteer)

Joanne Hatchett, RN, FNP, ACHPN, is the Sr. Advisor for Medical Science and Patient Advocacy for PSC Partners. Most recently, Joanne was a full-time staff member as the Medical Science Liaison. Prior to joining the staff at PSC Partners, she was a family nurse practitioner. Joanne is a strong advocate for advance care planning and patient and family education, and, before accepting a full-time position at PSC Partners, was a member of our Board of Directors. Additionally, she is a PSC caregiver. Joanne graduated from San Francisco State University with a BSN, and received both her MSN as a Cardiopulmonary Clinical Nurse Specialist and Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s certification from the University of California, San Francisco. (Volunteer)