We are a team of talented professionals with a wide range of skills and experiences. We love what we do, and we do it with passion. We look forward to working with you.
Joan Xi
Founder and President
Joan Xi is the founder and president of Boston Rare Connections Corp. She trained as a medical doctor at Zhejiang University School of Medicine and later graduated from Northeastern University with a master’s degree in engineering science of information systems. Dr. Xi joined Harvard Medical School’s affiliated hospital, Brigham and Woman’s hospital, as a genetic researcher in 2002, participating in numerous research projects in rare genetic diseases. She recently joined an international program focusing on rare and undiagnosed diseases.
Kevin Huang
Board of Directors
Kevin Wang, a rare disease patient himself, is the founder and president of the Chinese Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD). He also founded the China Rare Disease Patient Organization Network and started the China Rare Disease Summit – the most influential rare disease conference in China. Kevin is a pioneer and practitioner in raising awareness of rare diseases and has become an iconic figure of patient’s voice in the field of rare disease in China. Through his efforts, awareness for rare disease continues to spread though China and the world.
Richard Maas
Board of Directors
Richard Mass is a professor at Harvard Medical School and chief of the Genetics Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Prof. Maas has been working on rare genetic diseases for the past 30 years. His team has used chromosomal disruptions and WES/WGS to identify genes that when mutated cause or predispose to specific rare diseases and birth defects. Many of these conditions represent rare or previously undiagnosed syndromes. Prof. Maas was Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and was awarded NIH Merit Award.