people

Lauren Nguyen Assistant Director, Contracts & GrantsProgram in Public Health As the Assistant Director of Contracts & Grants, Lauren is the administrative contact in the Program in Public Health’s Office of Research. She works closely with the Dean and Associate Dean of Research to create processes and an infrastructure for their Office of Research as […]

Kartik Yadav, MS Director of Research Development & AdministrationSue & Bill Gross School of Nursing As Director of Research Development and Administration at Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, Mr. Yadav coordinates and provides individualized support for research projects and proposals. Specific responsibilities include research program strategy development, coordination of large projects involving faculty

Darine Zaatari, Ph.D. Director of Research DevelopmentSchool of Information and Computer Sciences Dr. Zaatari is the Director of Research Development in the School of Information and Computer Sciences, where she supports faculty developing competitive proposals for funding programs, with focus on major collaborative proposals. Prior to joining UCI, she worked at NORC, at the University

Mary Frances Ypma-Wong, Ph.D. Manager, Research DevelopmentSchool of Medicine Dr. Ypma-Wong manages the Research Development Unit (RDU) in the School of Medicine. The RDU provides funding opportunity support, helping faculty to develop a strategic approach and find funding opportunities. The unit also provides grant proposal support, including grant editing services and resources to increase the

Justin Sarkis, M.S. Research Development CoordinatorSchool of Biological Sciences Justin Sarkis helps faculty members in the School of Biological Sciences acquire funding for their research through grant proposal development. He has worked in proposal development since 2017 in academia at U.C. Riverside and in industry at Clean Energy in Newport Beach. Justin holds an M.S.

Helen Lee, Ph.D. Director of Research DevelopmentSchool of Physical Sciences Dr. Helen Lee is the Director of Research Development in the School of Physical Sciences, where she develops strategies to expand research programs, and works with faculty to prepare competitive proposals. Prior to joining UCI, she worked at UCR where she provided proposal assistance to

Holly Hapke, Ph.D. Director of Research DevelopmentSchool of Social Sciences Holly Hapke, Ph.D. is a geographer and interdisciplinary social scientist with research interests in political economy, rural development, gender, fisheries and food production systems, migration, ecological conflict, and South Asia. Specific research projects have examined the impact of technological transformation and globalization on artisanal fishing

Marianne Smith, Ph.D. Director of Corporate & Foundation RelationsUniversity Advancement Dr. Marianne Smith is the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations in University Advancement, where she is responsible for developing strategies to build the University’s relationships with corporations, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. Her focus is on the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, as well as

Marge Brannon, MBA Executive Director of Corporate & Foundation RelationsUniversity Advancement Marge Brannon is Executive Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, where she is responsible for developing strategies to build the University’s relationships with corporations, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. Her focus is on Arts, Business, Humanities, Law, Social Ecology and Social Sciences, as well as

Roxanne Ford Executive Director of Foundation & Corporate RelationsUniversity Advancement Roxanne Ford is Executive Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, where she is responsible for developing strategies to build the University’s relationships with corporations, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. Her focus is on the schools of Biological Sciences, Engineering, Information & Computer Sciences, and Physical Sciences,