Rutgers Research Development Academy®

Lynn A. Agre, MPH, PhD is an applied public health who manages a sponsored programs, grants office–pre and post award–at Rutgers Business School. Additionally for over 12 years, she has been teaching graduate and undergraduate statistics courses. Using secondary data sets and applied methods, she conducts analyses to illustrate the relationship between behavior and disease. Data sets include clinical, psycho-social and neuro-biological to elucidate the underlying mechanisms which lead to deleterious mental and physical health outcomes.

Nathalie Bernard joined the Department of Psychology as a Business Manager after two years as a grant specialist with Rutgers’ Research and Sponsored Programs and 20 years as a grants director in a non-profit social service agency. She is responsible for grant management, forecasting/budgeting, and financial reporting. She is the primary resource for faculty and staff for all pre- and post-award matters. Nathalie received a baccalaureate and DEUG in France and a bachelor’s degree and accounting certification in the U.S.

Melissa Dinovelli supports the Director for Research Development and Strategy by facilitating Rutgers–New Brunswick strategic priorities pertaining to faculty, students, and postdoctoral associates’ research and professional advancement. She works closely with Rutgers–New Brunswick research deans and the Office for Research to ensure the Academic Master Plan's objectives and Vice Provost for Research's strategic priorities are met and is passionate about using data-driven decision making to support cross-campus research development

Cecilia S. Gal is a Research Development Specialist with expertise in project management, research grant administration, strategic planning, and grant writing and editing. She was a Co-PI on a multi-year NSF grant on the adoption of computer-assisted health technologies by patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, and received NSF REU funding to train undergraduate researchers. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Wellesley College, and Ed.M and C.A.S. degrees in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University.

Anthony Gardner, Jr., is the Director of Finance and Budget Planning. He received his B.A. from Rutgers, M.B.A. from NJIT, is a Certified Research Administrator, and is currently pursuing a master’s in accounting at Rutgers. Anthony reports to the Vice Dean of Administration at the school and oversees the planning and implementation of an operating budget of over $500 million. He is passionate about professional development and looks for ways to support his team and those throughout the university in their growth.

Elaine Griffin is the Manager of Compliance and Quality Control in the Office of Grants Facilitation. Her work portfolio includes over 22 years of experience securing money for academic and non-profit environments. She has written successful funding proposals in areas of public health, family health sciences, nutritional sciences, food policy, multicultural programming, agricultural resources, and environmental sciences. She has also delivered and designed educational programs to community groups seeking grant funding.

Ronnette A. Henry is a Research Project Coordinator in the Executive Deans Office. She is responsible for research development and pre-award support for planned submissions by guiding faculty, staff, and students on grant writing, grant proposal submission, funder requirements, strategically enhancing proposal competitiveness, project design, project management, and logistics. She supports faculty with internal funding programs and external funding agencies such as NIH, NSF, and Mellon Foundation grants.

Monika Incze is a Grant Facilitator and experienced research administrator who assists faculty with identifying and pursuing funding opportunities with federal, state, and industry partners. She was a Grant and Contract Specialist and a Grant/Contract Manager at Rutgers Research and Sponsored Programs. Her experience in research administration includes New York University and a nonprofit agency funded by the National Cancer Institute. She is a Certified Research Administrator and Certified Pre-Award Research Administrator.

Jayshree Mariwala is the Grants Manager responsible for the financial management of sponsored and non-sponsored programs. She oversees the pre-award functions for sponsored programs, supports research faculty in identifying funding opportunities, assists with grant application and management processes. She also serves as a liaison to Research and Sponsored Programs, Research Contract Services, and Research Financial Services to ensure grant funds are managed effectively and financial reports/invoices are sent regularly to sponsors.

Attila Medl is Director of Research and Sponsored Programs and supports the school's efforts to increase external research funding. He was an Assistant Research Professor at the Center for Advanced Information Processing working on AI and natural human-computer interaction. Previously, he was a postdoc at the Rutgers Biomedical Engineering Department where he developed a system that analyzed intracranial brain signals in real time during brain surgery (pallidotomy) for Parkinson’s patients at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Olufunke Odukoya (Olu), M.B.A, is the Business Manager of the Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR). She oversees grants management for all centers under CUPR and handles all internal business processes for the group. Olu also prepares and coordinates proposal budgets for each center and individual faculty, and represents them at budget meetings. Prior to Bloustein, Olu was a Sponsored Programs Auditor at Rutgers Research Financial Services and the Business Manager at Skye Bank Plc in Nigeria for five years.

Zsofia Pal is the Director of Finance and Operations in the Department of Psychology. She serves as the department’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer and works with faculty leadership and staff in developing and implementing the financial and administrative structure of the department. She is responsible for planning and developing the department and affiliate programs budgets, allocating resources, monitoring expenditures, and forecasting and planning for the needs of the department and programs.

Christopher Rios-Sueverkruebbe supports the Director of Research Development and Strategy in facilitating Rutgers–New Brunswick’s research strategic initiatives as it pertains to faculty, students, and postdoctoral associates’ research and professional advancement. He works with the Program Development Specialist in daily operations and administration, project coordination, research development, and special projects for the Rutgers–New Brunswick Office for Research.

Lisette Smith is an Addiction Research Training Department Administrator. She oversees center operations and spearheads grants coordination and administration. She plays a vital role in implementing diverse training initiatives while ensuring seamless communication with affiliates, university networks, faculty, and staff. She has over 20 years of Human Resources Management and operations experience in nonprofit sectors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in science and is certified as a HR Professional.

Karen Wilson is a Grant Administrator for the Finance Department within the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Under the direction of the Assistant Director of Finance, Karen is responsible for the day-to-day support of all projects, grants, contracts and other restricted accounts and related functions associated with research, sponsored programs, and restricted funds activities for the Clinical Departments in her portfolio. Karen holds a CPA designation and is a Certified Research Administrator.

Kimberly Cook-Chennault is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical and Engineering Department. She applies qualitative, quantitative, mixed- and multimodal methods to explore and improve outcomes for high school and undergraduate students and K-12 teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Her work converges on multiple technologies and disciplines to advance the understanding of the circuits and pathways of cognitive function, attention, focus, and emotion.

Meghan A. Deshais, Ph.D., BCBA-D is an Assistant Professor. She earned her doctorate in the experimental analysis of behavior from University of Florida in 2018. Prior to joining the faculty at Rutgers, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Behavior Analysis at Caldwell University. Her primary research interests include establishing critical skills in children with disabilities and the application of behavior analysis to improve health and wellness.

Rachel John's research focuses on examining health disparities among immigrants and refugees in the U.S. She is interested in understanding cultural stress in the lives of immigrants and refugees and its impact on their health and mental health across the lifespan. Her research investigates the extent to which cultural stress, family relationships, and one’s positionality (gender, sexual orientation, social class) in society have an impact on one’s physical and mental health.

Yang Lyu is an Assistant Professor and leads a lab dedicated to the neurobiology of aging. Her lab investigates how choice experiences influence longevity and diseases using fruit flies, aiming to use that knowledge to understand and improve the health and well-being of humans. Originally from Wuhan, China, and holding a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from Sun Yat-sen University, Yang has been at Rutgers since 2022. Her diverse background fuels her quest to understand the brain's role in regulating behavior and health.

Angie Malorni is an Assistant Professor. Her research aims to center racial and social justice in youth developmental research/practice, critically examine/interrupt systems of oppression in youth-serving institutions (e.g. schools, youth development spaces, social services, etc.) and develop/adapt methods for youth participatory action research. She also has over 10 years of practice experience in direct youth work, program evaluation, local and federal policy advocacy, organizational development, and community organizing.

Kristen E. Riley, Ph.D. is a clinical health psychologist and health equity researcher with a focus on integrating behavioral medicine interventions into primary care and medical settings to decrease health disparities and increase access to care. She has active grants in training psychologists in integrated care in primary care and medical settings, a survey of interprofessional threat in integrated care settings, and decreasing lung cancer stigma to increase smoking cessation in the cancer care setting.

Charles Senteio is an Associate Professor of Library and Information Science. His community-based research endeavors to address healthcare disparities. His funded investigations span several chronic conditions characterized by persistent inequity including: HIV/STIs, diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and breast and prostate cancer. He has led community-based research projects in Detroit, Dallas, and New Jersey. He is interested in using existing and emerging technology to improve outcomes for underserved patients.

Max Tischfield is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience. He received his Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School. and was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital. His research uses human and mouse genetics to study the pathogenesis of human disorders with a focus on craniofacial, neurovascular, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Current lab topics involve the role of meningeal lymphatics in brain waste clearance and the neuropathogenesis of Tourette disorder.

Valerie Tutwiler is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, where her lab studies the structure and mechanics of blood clots. She received her B.S./M.S. and Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering from Drexel University. She completed her postdoctoral work in Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania as a NIH NHLBI K99/R00 Postdoctoral Fellow. In addition, she currently serves as a Provost Research Leadership Fellow, where she strives to promote multidisciplinary research across the university.

Melissa Dinovelli supports the Director for Research Development and Strategy by facilitating Rutgers–New Brunswick strategic priorities pertaining to faculty, students, and postdoctoral associates’ research and professional advancement. She works closely with Rutgers–New Brunswick research deans and the Office for Research to ensure the Academic Master Plan's objectives and Vice Provost for Research's strategic priorities are met, and is passionate about using data-driven decision making to support cross-campus research development.

Elaine Griffin is the Manager of Compliance and Quality Control in the Office of Grants Facilitation. Her work portfolio includes over 22 years of experience securing money for academic and non-profit environments. She has written successful funding proposals in areas of public health, family health sciences, nutritional sciences, food policy, multicultural programming, agricultural resources, and environmental sciences. She has also delivered and designed educational programs to community groups seeking grant funding.

Monika Incze is a Grant Facilitator and experienced research administrator who assists faculty with identifying and pursuing funding opportunities with federal, state, and industry partners. She was a Grant and Contract Specialist and a Grant/Contract Manager at Rutgers Research and Sponsored Programs. Her experience in research administration includes New York University and a nonprofit agency funded by the National Cancer Institute. She is a Certified Research Administrator and Certified Pre-Award Research Administrator.

Attila Medl is Director of Research and Sponsored Programs and supports the school's efforts to increase external research funding. He was an Assistant Research Professor at the Center for Advanced Information Processing, working on AI and natural human-computer interaction. Previously, he was a postdoc at the Rutgers Biomedical Engineering Department, where he developed a system that analyzed intracranial brain signals in real time during brain surgery (pallidotomy) for Parkinson’s patients at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.