Ronnie Hanecak, Ph.D.

Senior Director of Licensing
Applied Innovation

Dr. Hanecak is the Senior Director of Licensing in UCI Applied Innovation. Dr. Hanecak is responsible for leading the Invention Transfer Group (ITG). The ITG serves as the focal point for the evaluation, management, and licensing of UCI’s broad intellectual property portfolio (including inventions in the life sciences, biomedical and physical sciences sectors), material transfers, and industry/university interactions involving both research and technology transfer.

Prior to joining UCI in 2002, Dr. Hanecak held research director, project management, and business development positions at Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Trega Biosciences, Inc. where she managed and expanded multimillion dollar, international research and development collaborations. Drug discovery and development project areas included antisense and small molecule pharmaceutical drug candidates for infectious disease targets, metabolic diseases, inflammatory and immune disorders.

She received her B.A. in Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (now known as Stony Brook University).

Michael A. Gallo Jr., Ph.D.

Director of Research Development, Office of Research

Michael Gallo Jr. serves as the Director of Research Development at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). In his role as Director, he is responsible for assisting faculty and research groups in identifying external funding opportunities, and in developing compelling and competitive grant proposals. Working with the Research Development Officers (RDOs), from the different schools at UCI, he provides administrative coordination for faculty from all disciplines who are developing major multi-investigator research and outreach grant proposals. He also develops and leads training sessions on proposal writing and interacting with program officers at federal agencies, and works to stimulate interdisciplinary interactions across schools and departments.

Prior to working at UCI, Michael was the Director of Research Development for the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University, and the Director of various grant programs at Rutgers University, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and at the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Michael received a B.A. in Communication from Rutgers University, an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Boston College, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University.

Amanda Jeanne Swain, Ph.D.

Executive Director, Humanities Center
School of Humanities

Amanda Jeanne Swain received a PhD in History, as well as a Master’s degree in International Studies, from the University of Washington. She works closely with faculty and graduate students in the School of Humanities to develop proposals for funding ranging from individual fellowships to major collaborative projects. She has written and helped develop successful proposals for research and program funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, ACLS, AAUW, Fulbright-Hays, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Department of Education. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in program development and program management in the humanities, including university-community partnerships, grant-making, multi-disciplinary collaborations and exhibitions. As co-director of the Humanities Center, Dr. Swain is responsible for facilitating humanities research by generating resources, fostering intellectual community and managing special initiatives.

Lori Greene, Ph.D.

Assistant Dean for Engineering Research Management
Henry Samueli School of Engineering

Dr. Greene received her Ph.D. (2007) in materials chemistry from the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, and a B.S. (2001) in chemistry and geology from the University of Washington. Her dissertation research focused on nanotechnology and solar energy conversion. Prior to coming to UCI, Dr. Greene worked as a scientific technical monitor at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO. She worked closely with the U.S. Department of Energy and scientists at NREL to fund university and industry research in photovoltaics and other renewable energy technologies. Dr. Greene has worked in research development at UCI since 2008. In her current position as an Assistant Dean, she is responsible for proactively facilitating the advancement of the research enterprise in the Samueli School of Engineering.