Dr. Vernon's clinical and research efforts are focused on mitochondrial disorders including Barth Syndrome, which is a devastating mitochondrial disease of cardiolipin metabolism, with a high morbidity and mortality and limited treatment. To this end, Dr. Vernon developed a collaborative clinical and laboratory research program and multidisciplinary care clinic focused on the care and treatment of individuals with Barth Syndrome and led the first interventional clinical trial in this disease. Dr. Vernon's current focus is to understand the cellular mechanisms that underlie the tissue-specific nature of Barth Syndrome, with the goal of understanding the cell type-specific roles of cardiolipin and translate that knowledge into symptom-targeted therapeutics.

Dr. Vernon received her MD and PhD from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. She completed residencies in Genetics and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, and a fellowship in Clinical Laboratory Biochemical Genetics at Johns Hopkins University. She is board certified in Pediatrics, Clinical Genetics, and Clinical Laboratory Biochemical Genetics.