Conference Committee Leadership Nominees

Committee Leadership Nominees

No Nominees
Lisa Allen, Arizona State University College of Health Solutions

Lisa Allen is the Associate Director for Research Advancement in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. Lisa served on the conference committee for the Spring 2021 conference, and co-presented a session: Let's Talk: Pre- and Post-Award Communications. Lisa is an incredible advocate for her college, and is active in the RA Community at ASU and has provided leadership to a group she organized, Research Advancement Leadership Advisory Council (RALAC). Her leadership and support as a Co-Chair would contribute to a successful 2nd conference.

Shannon Carver, University of Arizona Health Sciences (UAHS)

Shannon Carver is the Director of Pre-Award within the UAHS Research Administration Office. Prior to joining the UA, Shannon spent over a decade working in various Research Administration positions within the University of Texas system, including roles within the Office of Sponsored Projects at UT Dallas and Grants & Contracts Project Coordinator in the College of Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. In all of these roles, Shannon has been responsible for developing presentations, disseminating information, and coordinating activities for numerous peers, faculty, and other institutional stakeholders. At UTSW, Shannon was responsible for the planning and logistics of the first annual Seldin Symposium, a multi-day event held for over one hundred house staff, clinical, and postdoctoral research fellows to present their research and connect with established faculty and clinician scientists to build interdisciplinary and translational research projects. In personal endeavors, Shannon spent five years as Head of Logistics, Operations, and Sales for DarkNet Industries LLC, a volunteer organization that provided education and technical challenges (over 10,000) to an audience of 35,000+ conference attendees at the world’s largest internet security/hacking conference. Shannon’s career in Research Administration has focused on education, dissemination of information, team-building, and professional development for up-and-coming Research Administrators, support staff, faculty, and scientists. Her experience in high-level organization and logistics for large-scale events would suit the needs of the Tri-University Research Administration Committee Co-Chair position, and her range of professional experience within the research administration field would provide broad perspectives as a Committee Co-Chair or Program Subcommittee Chair.

Shana McClelland, University of Arizona Sponsored Projects & Contracting Services

Shana McClelland is the Manager, Training & Development for University of Arizona Sponsored Projects & Contracting Services. Shana was heavily involved in the inaugural Tri-University Research Administration Conference, and would lend great experience and ideas to the next conference as a Co-Chair. Some highlights of Shana's contributions to the 2021 conference include: developing and implementing surveys for Day 1, Day 2, and for the overall conference; reporting on feedback and survey data; proactively supporting decision-making and progress with conference planning milestones; investigating ideas and methods to make the inaugural conference as polished as possible; and also serving as a presenter for multiple sessions.

Mirna Mun, Arizona State University Award Management

In my current position as a post-award Grant + Contract Officer at ASU, I serve as the Service Liaison for Team 2 within the central office’s Award Management Team (AMT), as well as continuing to be a main point of contact for and am assisting with the award change process for our team’s portfolio. Last year I was one of the only members of AMT to participate in the Tri-University Conference as a presenter and took lead in both managing communication among my fellow co-presenters, as well as organizing the presentation. Over the past nearly 6 years of working in AMT, I have gained extensive experience in coordinating and leading meetings and trainings, as well as projects related to process changes. Moreover, I take pride in my commitment to excellent customer service and professional business communication—skills which would be an asset for effectively organizing and managing the Tri-University Conference. As a more senior team member within AMT, I am looking to expand my leadership experience and skills and believe that the Tri-University Conference will provide an excellent opportunity for that. My experience, knowledge and skills attained in research administration make me well suited for the role of Committee Co-Chair.

Shannon Carver, University of Arizona Health Sciences (UAHS)

Shannon Carver is the Director of Pre-Award within the UAHS Research Administration Office. Prior to joining the UA, Shannon spent over a decade working in various Research Administration positions within the University of Texas system, including roles within the Office of Sponsored Projects at UT Dallas and Grants & Contracts Project Coordinator in the College of Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. In all of these roles, Shannon has been responsible for developing presentations, disseminating information, and coordinating activities for numerous peers, faculty, and other institutional stakeholders. At UTSW, Shannon was responsible for the planning and logistics of the first annual Seldin Symposium, a multi-day event held for over one hundred house staff, clinical, and postdoctoral research fellows to present their research and connect with established faculty and clinician scientists to build interdisciplinary and translational research projects. In personal endeavors, Shannon spent five years as Head of Logistics, Operations, and Sales for DarkNet Industries LLC, a volunteer organization that provided education and technical challenges (over 10,000) to an audience of 35,000+ conference attendees at the world’s largest internet security/hacking conference. Shannon’s career in Research Administration has focused on education, dissemination of information, team-building, and professional development for up-and-coming Research Administrators, support staff, faculty, and scientists. Her experience in high-level organization and logistics for large-scale events would suit the needs of the Tri-University Research Administration Committee Co-Chair position, and her range of professional experience within the research administration field would provide broad perspectives as a Committee Co-Chair or Program Subcommittee Chair.

Mirna Mun, Arizona State University Award Management

In my current position as a post-award Grant + Contract Officer at ASU, I serve as the Service Liaison for Team 2 within the central office’s Award Management Team (AMT), as well as continuing to be a main point of contact for and am assisting with the award change process for our team’s portfolio. Last year I was one of the only members of AMT to participate in the Tri-University Conference as a presenter and took lead in both managing communication among my fellow co-presenters, as well as organizing the presentation. Over the past nearly 6 years of working in AMT, I have gained extensive experience in coordinating and leading meetings and trainings, as well as projects related to process changes. Moreover, I take pride in my commitment to excellent customer service and professional business communication—skills which would be an asset for effectively organizing and managing the Tri-University Conference. As a more senior team member within AMT, I am looking to expand my leadership experience and skills and believe that the Tri-University Conference will provide an excellent opportunity for that. My experience, knowledge and skills attained in research administration make me well suited for the role of Program Subcommittee Chair.

Darci Parsley, Arizona State University Research Advancement Services (RAS)

Darci Parsley is a Research Advancement Administrator at Arizona State University. In her role, Darci crafts memos for high profile projects and stakeholders, as well as news posts for our Research Operations News blog. Darci would be a wonderful Chair for the Communication Subcommittee.

Sarah Clarke, University of Arizona Health Sciences (UAHS)

Sarah Clarke is currently transitioning into a new role, and will serve as the Manager of the Grants Team on the Pre-Award Team of the UAHS Research Administration Office. Prior to her current position, Sarah started with the UAHS Research Administration team as a coordinator and was quickly promoted to a Pre-Award Research Administrator and then Senior Research Administrator. Sarah has developed, presented, and refined entire courses of curriculum as well as celebratory events requiring logistical solutions and troubleshooting in other positions. Last year Sarah presented two topics in the previous Tri-University Conference, the internal Campus-wide University Research Administrators Forum, and numerous times to research faculty and internally to the UAHS Research Administration team. Her formal degree is in education, and Sarah spent five years teaching public school. This unique background has contributed to Sarah's ability to provide constructive feedback with the goal of producing clear and complete communication, which makes her an excellent candidate for the Presentation Subcommittee Chair.

Melinda Marino, Arizona State University College of Law

Melinda Marino is a Senior Research Advancement Administrator at Arizona State University. Melinda has a passion for presenting and public speaking, and is very organized and effective in keeping projects on track. Melinda would be a great resource to the Presentation Subcommittee, and to the selected presenters and speakers for the conference.

Samantha Munguia, Arizona State University Fiscal Oversight

Samantha Munguia is a Grant + Contract Officer Principal at Arizona State University. Sam served as a Co-Chair for the inaugural Tri-University Research Administration Conference and was a driving force in every aspect of the conference. For example, Sam trained and supported the session monitors and coordinated IT support throughout the conference. As such, Sam would be excellent as a leader for the Volunteer Management Subcommittee.

Angela Valencia, University of Arizona Health Sciences (UAHS)

Angela Valencia is one of the most senior research administrators in UAHS Research Administration. She has been with the UAHS preaward team for 6 years, however she has been involved with the University of Arizona and Health Research for more than 20 years. Over her career Angela has developed great administrative and organizational skills which have contributed to her successful leadership roles and the management of a large number of proposals. Additionally, Angela has a strong background in conference coordination and event planning which could be a great contribution to the conference committee; she was the main coordinator for "VIDA!" The Annual Mujer Latina Breast Cancer Conference for 6 years. These reasons make Angela an excellent candidate for the Volunteer Management Subcommittee Chair.

Valerie Keim, Arizona State University Proposals & Negotiations

Valerie Keim helped considerably during the last Tri-University Conference and seems to enjoy leading groups of people towards a common goal. She's also currently a master's student in the W.P. Carey program for Program Evaluation and Data Analytics. With that experience, it could be interesting and helpful for her to apply her academic knowledge of evaluation towards this conference!

Ryan Reikowsky, University of Arizona Health Sciences (UAHS)

Ryan Reikowsky is currently a Senior Research Administrator on the UAHS Research Administration team, providing pre-award administrative support to investigators in the Departments of Emergency Medicine, Medical Imaging, Neurology, and Physiology (College of Medicine – Tucson) and the Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center. Prior to working in research administration, Ryan was a program manager for a statewide training, technical assistance, and healthcare provider referral program for approximately 8 years, during which she assisted with coordinating and/or presenting at several training and public health-related conferences and events. In that role she was able to apply her previous work experience and graduate training in program evaluation to overseeing the collection and reporting of team metrics, including provider training outcomes, referrals, and conversions to enrollment (among others) to state and federal funders and community stakeholders. As an academic-based public health professional for over a decade, Ryan’s experience in program development, management, and evaluation (particularly in the area of provider training) position her well to contribute to the Tri-University Research Administration leadership team as the evaluation subcommittee chair.

Melissa Hance, Arizona State University Biodesign Institute Research Opportunity Advancement and Development Unit

I lived most of my life in St. Louis, Missouri except for my college years until I moved to Arizona for this job in October of 2019. I went to Illinois Wesleyan University and earned a B.A. in Psychology. Then went to University of Georgia for a M.S. in Developmental Psychology. I have always loved the research side of psychology and began my career as a Research Coordinator at Washington University in St. Louis in the Behavioral Medicine Department. There I published a first author paper on Heart Disease and Depression. I worked as a Research Coordinator and was a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator for more than 25 years. I have presented Research results at research conferences on my undergraduate and graduate thesis on Seasonal Affective Disorder and have been a Co-chair for an Undergraduate Research Conference at Illinois Wesleyan University. I am excited for the opportunity to participate as the Networking Subcommittee Chair because it will be great to get back to working as a team and helping everyone at ASU and the Tri-University Conference get together and network.

Valerie Keim, Arizona State University Proposals & Negotiations

Valerie Keim is a Senior Grant + Contract Officer at Arizona State University. One of Val's many strengths is relationship building and networking. Val has been successful in creating virtual networking experiences for new hires on her team, as well as being involved in event-planning and networking in volunteer activities outside of work.

To vote for your the nominees of your choice, CLICK HERE.