Presenters

Robert Andresen, Director of Research Financial Services in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Bob and his staff are responsible for all areas of financial and non-financial post-award administration as well as the development and negotiation of the University’s F&A and fringe benefit rates. He is a Past President of NCURA (National Council of University Research Administrators). Bob also is the author of “The Best Job of All”, a children’s book about research administration currently available in six languages.

Sara Arscott, PhD, CCRP (SoCRA) Education and Research Program Coordinator, Integrative Health in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health

Sara is the Education and Research Coordinator for the UW Integrative Health Program in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH). She is involved in developing innovative educational curriculum and programs for one of the best-known Integrative Health departments in the world. Integrative health is patient-centered, focuses on what matters most to individuals, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches to help achieve optimal health and healing. Dr. Arscott earned her masters and doctorate degrees in Nutritional Sciences from UW-Madison where her research focused on optimizing nutrition through food-based approaches. She is currently involved in championing workplace well-being in DFMCH and is eager to share her experiences.

Ann Bourque, CPA, PMP, Senior Policy and Planning Analyst at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Ann joined UW-Madison in 2005 and has experience with data, systems, and reporting at the central campus and college levels. She currently provides data analysis and reporting for CALS across the finance, research, student, and human resources data domains. Prior to joining CALS, Ann was an analyst in the UW-Madison Budget Office where part of her assignment included extramural support reporting, data digest, indirect cost reimbursement, overhead distribution (“cap ex”) and fund 150 management.

Max Coller, Senior Information Processing Consultant in the Information Technology Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

Max has been working on the UW-Madison campus in an information technology capacity for nearly 20 years. He began his current position at VCRGE in June of 2005. In his role as a Senior Information Processing Consultant, he collaborates with internal and external customers of VCRGE to find technical solutions to business process problems. Max finds great satisfaction in helping people by listening to what they want and crafting solutions that fulfill what they need. He has presented his software applications both on campus and at national conferences.

Tom Demke, Export Control Officer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tom has worked with Export Control since 2010, and Quality and served as Safety Manager of UW-Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center since 2002. Prior to that, he was a quality, safety and regulatory manager in the medical device industry working for Lunar, Gammex, GE and Philips (ADAC). Tom’s background includes work with medical imaging products (X-ray, CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy), research projects (IceCube neutrino detector, RSS-NIR telescope, LiDAR, ice coring drills, satellite data ingestors) and quality/compliance programs (FDA, NRC, OSHA, ISO, Export Control). Tom received his D.D.S. degree from the Marquette University School of Dentistry. He practiced dentistry for a few years before realizing that he liked basic sciences (microbiology, pathology and chemistry) better than dentistry, which led him to industry and his current position at the UW-Madison.

Irina Diaz, Pre-Award Specialist at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER)

Irina joined UW-Madison in 2008 and over the past 11 years has had a variety of pre and post award responsibilities. Irina has experience working with various funding agencies such as NIH, NSF, ED, the Spencer Foundation and many others. In her current role, Irina is responsible for advising and supporting pre-award activities for faculty and staff in WCER. Irina has worked with hundreds of students providing guidance on graduate assistantships and managing several student-related payments. She has led numerous workshops on graduate student funding to educate students and administrators on the different funding mechanisms and processes for graduate education. While working as the Fellowship, Funding and Diversity Initiatives Coordinator in the Graduate School, Irina’s passion for process improvement led her to design the current fellowships tracking system for the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Funding. This tracking system monitors the fellowships of over 300 graduate students each year. Irina holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Edgewood College and is currently working on a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW-Madison.

Brenda Egan - Bio coming soon!

Shelly Earl, Accountant Advanced in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Shelly is an Advanced Accountant on the RSP Nonfederal Post Award team. She has been a part of the team since 2004. She has worked with many campus collaborators on unique multi-disciplinary awards. Her work portfolio has included a wide variety of sponsored project, fund 133, awards. In addition to her regular work, she also provides oversight for the Residual Balance Process and RSP’s electronic Post Award document retention system. She has also presented at NCURA regionals and at the national FRA conference on various Post Award topics.

Steve Flaherty, Research Administrator in the College of Engineering (CoE)

Steve's current responsibilities include proposal review and submission, as well as training and outreach to CoE faculty and staff. Prior to his current role, Steve served as the pre-award administrator for CoE’s large-scale proposal team. He has also worked in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as a pre-award Research Administrator, and at the University of Washington’s Information School as a pre- and post-award Research Administrator.

Sandy Fowler, Lead Accountant at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Sandy loves grant management and loves to share what she knows about it. Sandy started with the UW in 1997 at University Housing as a program assistant. In 1999, she moved to the Department of Forest Ecology and Management and became a financial specialist. She was managing grants and not even knowing it. Her time in the department prepped her for a move to the CALS Research Division in 2006. Here she spent a solid two years reviewing salary and non-salary cost transfers and assisting RSP and CALS departments with sponsored project closeouts. Her post award role migrated to CALS Business Services where she now serves as an assistant dean providing guidance on cost share, effort, grant closeout, travel, and purchasing.

Michael Geier, Manager of Electronic Research Administration in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Mike is the leader of the Electronic Research Administration Team (eRA) at RSP. The eRA team provides technology services, systems development, data reporting and analysis, and oversight of cost sharing to RSP and campus as a whole. Prior to managing eRA, he worked for ten years as a web programmer and data analyst on the team, being responsible for a multitude of projects from the Subaward Portal to HERD Survey reporting. Mike came to the UW from the University of Pittsburgh where he worked for nearly a decade as a programmer for an NIH-funded cancer research cooperative group that runs clinical trials.

Swati Gupta, Data Analyst in the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH)

Swati joined SMPH in 2016 and prior to that she was a Reporting Analyst at the School of Education. Swati has worked with various types of data and is currently in the process of creating a research dashboard for the school.

Kristin Harmon, Intellectual Property Disclosure Specialist in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

Kristin has been a research administrator for nearly 20 years. She began her career in post-award administration at Indiana University, and came to UW-Madison as a Grants & Contracts Specialist at RSP. She spent eight years as grant manager at the Primate Research Center and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, taking responsibility for all aspects of pre-award, as well as non-financial post-award, research administration. In her current role, she works closely with WARF and UW-Madison schools and colleges to determine assignment of intellectual property rights to inventions based on agreements with federal and non-federal sponsors. Kristin is a strong believer in communication and collaboration, and has presented both on campus, and at regional and national seminars and conferences on a variety of topics.

Lynn Haynes, Director of the Office of Research Compliance

Lynn oversees the administrative support and compliance for the Human Research Protection Program and the Research Animal Resources and Compliance unit. The majority of her career was spent in the Department of Surgery in the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) where she performed basic, translational and clinical research as well as research administration.

Melanie Hebl, Education Coordinator in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Melanie is the Education Coordinator in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP). She joined the UW in 2007 as a Grant and Contract Specialist working in RSP preaward services. Prior to joining RSP, Melanie was a grant administrator for the WI DNR and an educator for the University of Georgia Extension. Melanie has presented educational sessions at local, regional, and national meetings on a variety of research administration topics. She has professional certificates in Online Education, Instruction, and Instructional Design. She is currently in the process of developing RSP’s RED Program to expand educational opportunities for all UW research administrators. Melanie also co-leads a Wellness Initiative in RSP.

Dorothy Johnson, Post-Award Managing Officer in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Dorothy is the Manager of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) team in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. Prior to joining the University in May 2018, she gained extensive university research administration experience through her positions at Macalester College, Bucknell University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her numerous certifications include Certified Research Administrator, Certified Financial Research Administrator, and Certified Public Accountant. Dorothy has a Master of Science in Research Administration from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She has presented at both regional and national meetings on a wide range of research topics.

Tamie Klumpyan, (she/her/hers) Fully Prepared to Engage Program Coordinator at the Office of Talent Management

Tamie supports employee learning through the Office of Learning and Talent Development/OHR; with a lens on building engagement, inclusion and diversity in the workplace. Tamie is committed to facilitating opportunities where individuals engage in self-discovery and are empowered to positively influence and enhance work life and work environments across campus. Tamie received her Master’s from Western Illinois University and Bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Jay Krafft, Grants Administrator at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID)

Jay successfully administrates Pre- and Post- grant awards and proposals at WID. Along with development of the budgets and coordination in synchronicity with approximately 50 research institutions, he provides strategic leadership and expertise to an outstanding team of 20 WID faculty and approximately 40 affiliated WID faculty members. Prior to his current role, Jay served as the Administrator for Brennan Research, Payroll and Benefits Specialist Advanced at the School of Nursing, and College of Engineering departmental Grants and Contract Specialist.

Amy Kuehn, Assistant Director-Administration, School of Veterinary Medicine

Amy is the Assistant Director-Administration for the Influenza Research Institute within the Department of Pathobiological Sciences, with over 20 years of biological research support experience. Amy’s position oversees pre-award and post-award aspects of grant management, financial management, payroll, human resources and operations for the Institute. Amy’s particular strengths are submitting and managing large, federal, multi-institutional cooperative agreements and contracts. Amy holds a B.S. in Agri-Business with Animal Science focus from UW-Madison and a M.B.A. with an Operation Management focus from the UW-Whitewater.

Tammy Kuhn Martin, Assistant Dean in the College of Engineering

Tammy is the Assistant Dean for Research Administration in the College of Engineering. Tammy got her start in Research Administration in 2001 when she took a student hourly position as an Accountant Intern at Research & Sponsored Programs. She has a wealth of experience and expertise across all aspects of research administration spanning full-life-cycle grants, contract management and research compliance. She serves on a number of campus committees, is a member of the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), and has presented at their regional meetings. Tammy has a B.S. in Human Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jennifer Kuhr, Senior Grants and Contracts Specialist in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Jennifer's area of focus is outgoing subawards and along with one other staff is responsible for all outgoing subagreements for the University of Wisconsin Madison. Jennifer has spent 14 years in research administration with experience in both department level administration and at the central office. Jennifer joined RSP in 2014.

Kelly Mallon, Senior Research Administrator in L&S Dean's Office

Kelly was a research administrator in the Department of Surgery prior to her role in L&S. She has been with UW-Madison for 16 years as both a biomedical researcher and a research administrator. She has expertise in cradle-to-grave grants management and specializes in proposal preparation.

Sarah Marcotte, Research Administrator in the School of Human Ecology

Sarah has worked at UW-Madison since 2002 in a variety of roles including clinical research coordination at the Carbone Cancer Center (9 years), as a member of the preaward team within the Research Division in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) (7 years), and currently as a Research Administrator at the School of Human Ecology (SoHE). Sarah has a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Human Kinetics and enjoys the challenges of adapting to the ever-evolving landscape of research grant administration. When not working to support the research enterprise at UW-Madison, Sarah enjoys trail running, reimagining her youth on the soccer and ultimate Frisbee fields, and playing acoustic guitar.

Kurt McMillen, Assistant Director for Grant & Proposal Services in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Kurt joined the University in 2010 as a Grant and Contracts Specialist working in RSP. Currently, he is responsible for the strategic leadership and oversight of the Proposal Services, Award Acceptance and outgoing Subaward Issuance operations within RSP. Kurt is a member of the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) and has presented nationally on a wide range of topics. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.

Debbie Meltzer, B.S., M.S., Assistant Dean in the School of Medicine and Public Health

Debbie believes the magic of Research Administration happens when you have good people, who are well led, well trained, rewarded, and have challenging roles. Debbie graduated from the University of Wisconsin and went on to do research in the Cancer Center prior to becoming Assistant Dean. She stays current with grant policies/regulations as a member of the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) and campus committees, using that information to inform Research Administrators in 17 Clinical Departments, 10 Basic Science Departments, and 23 Institutes and Centers.

Bridgett Molinar, Accountant in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Bridgett is an Accountant on the RSP Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) team in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. She has been part of the team since mid-2019. Bridgett started working on campus 10 years ago as a student hourly and spent 6 years working in both pre and post award, managing sponsored and non-sponsored awards in the Department of Medicine. She brings her knowledge of campus policies and grants administration, as well as a department operation/function/administration perspective to RSP.

Kim Moreland, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kim is on the Board of Directors of the Federal Demonstration Partnership and a former Board member of the Council on Governmental Relations. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee on Business and Operations for the director of the National Science Foundation. She is also a lecturer for Johns Hopkins University in the Master’s degree program in Research Administration. Kim is a recipient of NCURA’s national Award for Distinguished Service in Research Administration and the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Administration. She is a former president of NCURA and an NCURA Distinguished Educator.

Alex Nelson, Accountant at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Alex is an Accountant within the CALS Business Services Office. He is responsible for reviewing and approving financial transactions for his departments and offering guidance on UW policies and procedures. In addition to his normal duties, he is also the student payment coordinator for CALS. In this role, he is responsible for reviewing and paying student scholarships. Before his time at CALS, he served as an Accountant in RSP where he developed a background in post award grant administration, and specifically honed his knowledge on subrecipient monitoring while helping to develop the Subaward Portal Tool. Alex has a B.A. in Economics from UW-Madison and an MBA with an emphasis in Finance from UW-Whitewater.

Bethany Nelson, Export Control Coordinator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bethany has been with Export Control for the past six years. Prior to that she has worked for State of Wisconsin Unemployment Insurance, Dane County Fair Housing Task Force, and in the American Girl in-house counsel’s office. She has a law degree as well as a Bachelor’s in physics, is currently the Outreach Chair for the Association of University Export Control Officers (AUECO) and has been published in Wisconsin Lawyer. She has previously presented at the AUECO and NCURA conferences as well as given an Amber Road webinar. She is a font of useless trivia and will sort you into your Hogwarts’ house if asked.

Larisa Roberts, Research Administrator in the Department of Biomedical Engineering

Larisa has been a pre- and post-award Research Administrator for the College of Engineering’s BME Department since 2017 and has been at the UW since 2015. She got her start in Research Administration while working as the Departmental Administrator for the University of Oxford’s Department of Special Collections at the Bodleian Library, and was thrilled to find her niche when she returned to the US. She holds a Master of Studies (M.St.) from the University of Oxford in European Archaeology, and in her spare time enjoys hiking, camping, downhill skiing, needle-felting, and spending time with her husband, two stepsons, and two rescue cats.

Jennifer Rodis, Policy Analyst in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Jennifer has worked in UW-Madison’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs since 2006. As a Grant & Contract Specialist, she submitted proposals, set up awards, and negotiated contracts. From January 2012 to January 2014, she served on an IPA assignment as a Policy Specialist in the National Science Foundation’s Policy Office. Since returning to RSP in February 2014, she has worked on policy analysis and implementation related to research administration. She is active in the Federal Demonstration Partnership, the Council on Governmental Relations, and the National Council of University Research Administrators.

Catherine Shults, Pre & Post-Award Research Administrator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering

Catherine has been with the Department for six years and has a broad range of general financial and operational knowledge gained in her various roles. She participates in the RED peer mentoring program as a mentee. Additionally, she is a member of the College of Engineering CASI team and of the NCURA Region IV Communications Committee.

Zach Smith, Pre & Post-Award Research Administrator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering

Zach has previous experience as a Business Operations Manager within the International Division managing institutional fee for service contracts. He came to UW-Madison from the University of Iowa where he worked in International Programs managing UI’s university agreements and memoranda of understanding with institutions abroad. His primary interests have been in refining systems and processes and fostering effective models of communication. He enjoys detail-oriented work and maintaining systems-wide perspectives. He currently serves as an Academic Staff Assembly representative and is a member of the College of Engineering CASI team.

Christine Sorkness, RPh, PharmD, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacy at the UW School of Pharmacy and Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH)

Dr. Sorkness serves as the UW Institute of Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) Senior Associate Executive Director and oversees many of the workforce development initiatives. She also serves as co-director of the ICTR Collaborative Center for Health Equity which administers the annual Health Equity Leadership Institute. She has a special interest in health equity research in asthma, in which she has conducted both clinical efficacy and comparative effectiveness trials. Dr. Sorkness is affiliated with the UW SMPH Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics and the Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Division of the Department of Medicine, with more than 30 years of NHLBI-funding as a principal investigator for the asthma clinical research network trials. She has been a co-investigator with the NIAID Inner City Asthma Consortium since 2002. A long-standing member of the UW Health Sciences IRB, she has also served on several NHLBI-appointed Data and Safety Monitoring Boards for multi-center national trials. As part of her clinical investigator role, she has been committed to the career development of diverse post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty from varied biomedical backgrounds, focusing on pediatric and adult asthma, team science, and the responsible conduct of research. She serves on mentor teams for CTSA KL2 scholars, TL1 and T32 trainees, and students in the certificate/graduate programs in clinical investigation. Dr. Sorkness has provided instrumental leadership in support of ICTR’s mentorship training initiatives, and for the development of extensive curricular and mentoring resources. She is an investigator with the NIH Diversity Program Consortium National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), and is a Master Facilitator for research mentor training programs.

Mark Sweet, Director of Grants and Contracts in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Mark has been working in research administration for over 20 years and has presented at several regional and national NCURA conferences. In addition, he is co-chair of the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) eRA Standing Committee. Prior to his time with RSP, Mark was a research specialist in the department of medicine.

Jennifer Taylor, JD, Director of the International Faculty and Staff Services Office

Jennifer has been with the International Faculty office since 2007. She specializes in all non-student immigration issues, such as filing permanent residency and other immigration applications for the University’s employees. Prior to joining the University, Jennifer worked as an attorney for a law firm in Madison. Before attending law school, she work for the University of Wisconsin System Administration, in the Office of General Counsel. It was there she was first exposed to the world of immigration. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. In her free time, she spends times with her two children, plays volleyball and enjoys competing in Tough Mudder events and traveling.

Nicholas (Nick) Tincher, Director of the Administrative Transformation Program

Nick is the Director of the Administrative Transformation Program, a multi-year initiative that will advance the University of Wisconsin’s missions of research, teaching, and outreach by innovating together to right-size administrative complexity and build a finance and HR environment for the future. He is responsible for overseeing the Finance, HR, Research Administration, Reporting & Data and IT strategies of the program, the Change Management function, and the Program Office. He also acts as the face of the initiative to the campus community and external stakeholders. Prior to his current position, he served for five years as the Chief Information Officer in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research where he served to bring process and technology solutions to opportunities in the areas of research compliance, research funding, and graduate education.

Josh Totsky, Accountant in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Josh is an Accountant on the DHHS Post-Award Team at Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP). He joined the team as a student hourly in 2017 and transitioned to a full-time position in early 2019. Josh started working on campus in Accounts Payable and received the Administrative Improvement Award for his contributions to the Vendor Payment Conversion Project. He currently manages a portfolio of Veterinary Medicine awards and brings a passion for both learning and teaching to RSP.

John Varda, Post-Award Managing Officer in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

John has been the manager of RSP’s Nonfederal Post-Award Team since March 2016. His team of accountants manage the 133- awards for campus. With 25 years of experience at the UW at the departmental, divisional, and central level, John has insight into UW policies and procedures from multiple points of view. John is active in RSP’s RED (Research Education Development) program, helping to create and co-present the post-award overview course and the cost transfer course.

Lisa Werning, Assistant Administrator of Research in the School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Surgery

Lisa provides research oversight for the Office of Clinical Research (Clinical Trials unit), Biostats/Research Programming office, Research Administration, Histology Core, WISOR, and Lab Science, alongside DOS Vice Chairs. Lisa started her career in research in 2011 as a Health Researcher for the Department of Ophthalmology. Lisa also worked as a regulatory specialist in the UWCCC-Phase I DOT before taking a position with the Department of Surgery in 2015. For 3 years, Lisa was the DOS Director of Clinical Trials, before she received her current role in July 2018.

Bonniejean Zitske, Assistant Director of Research Financial Services in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Bonniejean has been an active member of the UW-Madison community for twenty years and a research administrator for 10 years, working in a department and dean’s office before taking on a leadership role in the central office. She is Past Chair of NCURA Region IV, which is a professional organization for research administrators. She is currently working on a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW-Madison.

Research and Sponsored Programs

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

Announcements

4th Annual Symposium for Research Administrators

October 8th, 2019 - Gordon Event Center