Our Team
Kimberly Eck, MPH, PhD | Vice President for Research Strategy
Dr. Eck established the Office of Research Development (ORD) in 2020 and continues to lead the office. ORD provides comprehensive proposal development support for mega proposals, develops competitive intelligence, facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations, and administers internal seed funds and limited competitions. Additionally, she oversees the Training Grant Support Office within ORD.
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Erica Pitre | Director of Research Development
Erica joined the Office of Research Development (ORD) early in 2021. She provides project management and proposal development support to faculty research teams who have engaged ORD on mega proposal submissions. Additionally, Erica supports many of the office’s strategic initiatives, including competitive intelligence.
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Cortney Levine, PHD, CAPM | Research Development Officer
Cortney joined the Office of Research Development (ORD) in September 2023. She curates and disseminates the Funding Fridays newsletter for Emory Research, providing faculty with timely and relevant funding opportunities and news. She also manages Emory's limited submission programs and internal seed funding programs.
Victor Zamora | Research Development Officer
Victor joined the Office of Research Development (ORD) in March 2025. He offers strategic proposal development and coordination support to faculty researchers who engage ORD services. Victor also supports the pre-award administration process for the SVPR Office of Research Administration.
Madison Browne, PhD | Research Development Officer
Madison joined the Office of Research Development (ORD) in March 2025. She applies her expertise in study design, writing, and project management to support effective grant proposal development for faculty.
Yixin Duan, MPH | Senior Project Support Specialist
Yixin joined the Office of Research Development (ORD) in January 2023. In her role, she manages the University Research Committee’s annual grant applications and awards, and Albert E. Levy Award for Excellence in Scientific Research. Additionally, she provides support for other ORD run university-wide internal seed grants funded by Office of the Provost/Senior Vice President for Research.
Japera Hemming, PhD | Project Director, National Organization of Research Development Professionals’ Consultants Program
Japera joined the Office of Research Development (ORD) in December 2023 to lead a national initiative that expands access to research development (RD) services at minority-serving institutions. Given her training in public administration, health policy and health equity practice, she is strengthening the RD practice by building culturally relevant strategies that grow a more diverse and robust US national research ecosystem.
Mariana Pannell | Project Support Specialist, National Organization of Research Development Professionals’ Consultants Program
Mariana joined the Office of Research Development (ORD) in December 2024 to provide project support to the NORDP Consultants Program. With their extensive experience in nonprofits and academia, Mariana is dedicated to streamlining processes and mitigating risks to ensure project goals are met on time and within budget.
Cindy Borges, PMP | Senior Project Support Specialist
Cindy joined the Office of Research Development (ORD) in October 2022, initially supporting the ADJUST Center before her role expanded to additional cross-functional initiatives across Emory. Drawing from her background in project management, operations, communications, and event strategy, she supports implementation efforts that advance institutional priorities, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strategic engagement. Her work now spans the ADJUST Center, School of Medicine Innovation Center, Lab2Launch, and related educational and engagement initiatives.
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Kelly A. Moore, PhD | Director, Training Grant Support Office
Dr. Moore established the Training Grant Support Office (TGSO) in 2020. She leads the TGSO, which supports the longevity of our existing training programs while targeting new areas for program development by providing expert knowledge, tools, and resources.
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Amber Mason, PhD | Associate Director of Evaluation, Training Grant Support Office
Dr. Mason began her journey with the Training Grant Support Office (TGSO) in Fall of 2022. In her role, she provides a support infrastructure for training grant program evaluation through the provision and deployment of evaluation tools for planning, measurement, and data analysis.
Dena Reinoso, MBA | Assistant Director, Training Grant Support Office
Dena began working with the Training Grant Support Office (TGSO) in 2021. Dena provides training grant support services to Emory leadership, faculty, and program staff throughout all Emory colleges and schools. Additionally, Dena works with senior research leadership to effectively implement Emory’s training grant development strategies.
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Tekla Smith, MPH | Project Support Specialist, Training Grant Support Office
Tekla joined the Training Grant Support Office (TGSO) in 2022. In her role, Tekla provides administrative support for training grant proposals, assists with navigating NIH eRA Commons xTrain and xTract systems; maintains databases and reports for the TGSO; and helps support program evaluation activities.
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