Executive Team

Albert T. Roy leads the Lupus Research Alliance as President and Chief Executive Officer. He has two decades of executive non-profit experience with extensive research, drug development and executive management experience in the academic and private sectors.

Leading the largest private lupus research funder at the forefront of many of today’s biggest breakthroughs, Mr. Roy is committed to realizing the mission of the Lupus Research Alliance: to find better treatments and ultimately, a cure, for this highly complex disease. With the vision of being able to match the right therapy for each patient, he remains laser focused on producing clinically meaningful results that “allow people with lupus to be the best versions of themselves.”

Mr. Roy came to LRA after six years serving as Executive Director of its clinical arm Lupus Therapeutics. In this role, Mr. Roy expanded Lupus Therapeutics into a clinical research powerhouse, supporting 20 clinical research efforts with 16 partners from major biopharmaceutical companies committed to lupus drug development. A cornerstone of his success has been the formation and expansion of the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN), a network of 57 prestigious academic institutions throughout North America that care for 25,000 people living with lupus.

Addressing health inequities in lupus research and improving clinical research awareness and engagement, particularly among people of color who are underrepresented in clinical research, continues to be a major goal for Mr. Roy with the introduction of several novel programs aimed at this all-too prevalent issue.

Previously, Mr. Roy was Vice President of Operations and Research Programs at CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a multi-million-dollar public charity whose mission is to support targeted and innovative children’s cancer research. CureSearch served as the fiscal, administrative and philanthropic agent for the world’s largest pediatric cancer clinical trials research network, the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). During his tenure there, Mr. Roy managed a clinical research portfolio exceeding $50 million per year-and coordinated the formation of the COG through strategic partnerships with more than 200 academic research medical centers throughout North America to conduct Phase I, II and III industry-led and investigator-initiated pediatric cancer clinical trials.

Mr. Roy is a graduate of Ithaca College and received his Master’s Degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Teodora Staeva, PhD is Chief Scientific Officer at the Lupus Research Alliance. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the organization’s research portfolio and operations, including the development of a research strategy and leading its implementation, as well overseeing all research initiatives, partnerships and collaborations.

Until September 2017, Teodora was Assistant Dean for Research at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) where she was responsible for managing the strategic planning efforts related to research, building and overseeing institutional programs facilitating faculty research, development and recruitment, and leading and managing intra-campus as well as inter-campus collaborations with Cornell University and WCM’s Tri-Institutional partners, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Rockefeller University.

Prior to joining WCM, Teodora worked at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (currently known as JDRF) where she was Director of Immune Therapies for nine years. She obtained her PhD in Immunology from Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, and her BS, with honors, in Biology and Neuroscience from Macalester College.

Nicole Capossela has extensive leadership experience in nonprofit development and advertising with a proven track record of success in building and leading high performing teams, strategic planning and problem solving, donor and client relationship building, and developing and managing budget programs. She began her work in the nonprofit sector at the Assassination Archives and Research Center in Washington, DC. Later, she worked for the National Rifle Association as part of the development leadership team that built the NRA Office of Advancement.

In 2013, she moved to Los Angeles to join the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and served as the Executive Director of Development, with a focus on Individual Giving. She was part of the senior leadership during UCLA’s $5.49 billion Centennial Campaign. After UCLA, Nicole spent two years as the Senior Vice President of Account Service at an advertising agency in Dallas, before returning to Los Angeles and the nonprofit sector in 2018 as the Chief Development Officer at Team Rubicon (TR). Nicole served as the Chief Development Officer from 2018- 2024. In this capacity she led the development, brand communications, and government relations teams and was responsible for all aspects of government partnerships and awareness, revenue, brand development, content creation and communications for the organization. She currently serves as the Chief Advancement Officer for the Lupus Research Alliance where she leads the development and marketing communications teams.

As a fundraiser, she has been responsible for raising over $750 million, and as an advertising executive led strategic development campaigns and client management for prominent companies in the aerospace, defense, health care, nonprofit and amusement park industries. A strong background in fundraising coupled with experience in advertising and media company development has broadened her understanding of how each of these areas are intricately connected and when paired together, allow for more meaningful messaging and experiences for institutions, donors, and clients.

Nicole earned an undergraduate degree from George Washington University, a master certificate in Fundraising Management from Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and a master’s degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management from George Mason University.

Debra Rose joined the Lupus Research Alliance in 2002 when it was the Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR). She currently is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and has overseen Finance & Operations for her entire tenure. Debra oversaw the legal and operational merger process involved in bringing together the Alliance for Lupus Research, the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation and the Lupus Research Institute to become the Lupus Research Alliance.

Prior to joining the Lupus Research Alliance, Debra was the Finance Officer for the Western Washington University Foundation in Bellingham, WA where she was responsible for the Foundation and Alumni office accounting. She moved to NYC in 2002 where she immediately joined the Alliance for Lupus Research.

Debra graduated Magna Cum Laude from Western Washington University with a BA in Accounting earning the Outstanding Graduate Award in accounting. Soon after graduation, Debra earned her CPA license in WA state and went on to also become a Certified Management Accountant.

Nishant is the Managing Director of Lupus Ventures, the venture investment fund of the Lupus Research Alliance, and a member of its Investment Committee. In his role, Mr. Rastogi leads all investment activities – including search & evaluation, deal structuring, and portfolio management – as well as fund operations – including investment team and consultant recruitment, business development, and coordination of the Lupus Venture’s Investment Committee and Scientific Advisory Board.

Mr. Rastogi is an accomplished life sciences investor with more than a decade of venture capital and private equity experience. He has served as a Board Director and operating partner for multiple biotech and medtech companies throughout his career.

Prior to Lupus Ventures, Mr. Rastogi served as Vice President and Head of Transactions at New Rhein Healthcare Investors, an international private equity firm. He played an integral role in the firm’s evolution and growth – including starting the U.S. office, sourcing opportunities, deal execution, portfolio management, team building, and operations. At New Rhein, he evaluated thousands of opportunities across various stages of development and therapeutic areas – ultimately leading to over $200m in direct investments. He was involved in New Rhein’s investments in Corsair, Theranica, Alveus, American Injectables, Butterfly Medical, Softhale, EirCor, and Neuraptive – and supported these companies across finance, clinical development, manufacturing, regulatory, and commercial functions.

Mr. Rastogi began his investment career at Broadview Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital fund focused on cardiovascular innovation. He has also served as an advisor to several disease research foundations – including Beyond Celiac and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy – on venture fund formation and the role of philanthropy and private investment in advancing new medicines and health equity.

Prior to his work in healthcare, Nishant was an analyst at Fidelity Investments. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College, earned his MBA from Northwestern University, and completed a medical science certificate from Harvard, and a certificate in climate change and health from Yale.

Andrea J. O’Neill is Vice President, Development at the Lupus Research Alliance responsible for managing a multi-faceted fundraising program, generating more than $25 million annually to support lupus research programs.

As a member of our executive leadership staff team, Andrea brings substantial knowledge and experience gained from a highly productive 21-year history working with the lupus community to help shape and implement the strategic vision for the Lupus Research Alliance. Prior to this position, Andrea served as the Director of Development and Operations for the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation and the Lupus Research Institute. In addition to leading the fundraising initiatives, she oversaw the pre-merger process involved in uniting these two organizations with the Alliance for Lupus Research.

Before joining the lupus community, she was Vice President for Development and Institutional Advancement at The HealthCare Chaplaincy for five years. Andrea holds a BS degree from Syracuse University and a certificate in fundraising from Columbia University.

Luke Easley serves on the Executive Team of the Lupus Research Alliance as Vice President of Human Resources and Administration. A transplant to NYC from Washington, DC, Luke spent fifteen years at the Center for Global Development, a nonprofit think tank working on international economic development issues. As VP of HR and Operations at CGD, Luke led the team responsible for HR/people operations, administration, and technology services.

Luke holds a BSc. in human resource management from Colorado State University and a Senior Certified Professional designation from SHRM.

Penny Mitchell is Vice President, Marketing and Communications at the Lupus Research Alliance and a member of the Executive Team. She is responsible for overseeing strategic communications and integrated marketing to elevate awareness of lupus and drive much needed support for the organization’s education, advocacy, and ambitious research programs which spans the spectrum from foundational, translational through clinical research.

For more than three decades, Penny has held healthcare practice leadership positions at international communications firms including Fleishman-Hillard, dna/Weber Shandwick, H&K Strategies and Porter/Novelli. Passionate about patient education, research and advocacy, Penny began her communications career at the Will Rogers Institute, a non-profit pulmonary research organization.

Throughout her career, Penny has represented major non-profit, academic research, pharmaceutical, medtech and consumer health companies. Her experience is broad and includes integrated brand planning, advocacy relations, corporate reputation management, issues/crisis management, marketing and media strategy, data communications and public/private partnerships. Her experience in autoimmune diseases is particularly strong having launched pharmaceutical brands in lupus as well as psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and thyroid disease.

Penny holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and Master of Science in Education from Fordham University.