Dawn Ireland, President
Dawn is the current President and Founder of CDH International. As the past President (1995-2017) of CHERUBS, the world’s largest charity for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, she founded the organization in 1995 out of thin air and led it to be the most successful NPO of it’s kind. Through her leadership, CHERUBS has helped over 6,300 families in 70 countries, found a voice on Capitol Hill, raised awareness on national media, created relationships with hospitals and celebrities, pushed for more funding through NIH, created and funded support services and information for families, brought together the global CDH community, published medical data and raised over $1 million dollars. She has also laid the foundation for and/or assisted with the creation of 11 other CDH charities. Dawn is honored to mentor many other cause charities, and she was the first charity leader to set up a 3-prong cause agenda of research, awareness and support 20 years ago.
Rachael Eller, Office & Operations Manager
Rachael is the Office & Operations Manager for CDHi. Rachael manages CDHi’s research database to assist families with completing the survey and to prepare data for research studies. Rachael also assists with abstract preparation, conference planning, grant application submissions, creating presentations, donation processing, facilitating our tote bag program, and a variety of other duties both in and out of the office. In her spare time, Rachael enjoys riding horses, playing video games, spending time in nature, and completing home improvement projects.
Josh Hensley, Research Director
Onno Zwart, European Research Director