Team: Re-Engineering the Biomedical Workforce (RRE)

Functional Area: Program Management

Programs: Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS); Complement-ARIE; Transformative Research to Address Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity

Dr. Margaret Ochocinska joined the Office of Strategic Coordination in November of 2022 as Program Leader with the Re-engineering the Research Enterprise. Previously, she served as Program Director in the Translational Blood Science and Resources Branch in the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), where she launched the Trans-Agency Blood-Brain Interface Program, a partnership between NHLBI and the Department of Defense Joint Program Committee-6 (JPC-6) Combat Casualty Care Research Program (CCCRP), to support collaborations between hematologists/vascular experts, neuroscientists, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) tissue chip developers for high risk/high reward research to create enhanced/modified platforms that more closely model the human BBB. Prior to joining NHLBI, Dr. Ochocinska was a Health Program Specialist in the Office of Translational Research, at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), supporting both the Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Program and the Anticonvulsant Screening Program (ASP). Dr. Ochocinska received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), where she worked on identifying mediators of photoreceptor degeneration.

Team: Catalytic Data Resources (CDR)

Functional Area: Program Management

Programs: Gabriella Miller Kids First (Kids First); Metabolomics; Common Fund Data Ecosystem(CFDE)

Dr. Papanicolaou joined the Office of Strategic Coordination in 2021, where he helps integrate data from multiple Common Fund programs with the Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE). Previously, Dr. Papanicolaou worked as a Research Geneticist in the Epidemiology Branch in the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences in the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute (NHLBI). While a Program Director at NHLBI, he led efforts in genomics and omics in diverse programs such as Candidate Gene Resource (CARe), SHARe (SNP Health Association Resource), Omics in Latinos (OLa), Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed), and TOPMed’s Centralized Omics Resource (CORE). He was also the Program Officer for the Framingham Heart Study. George also drafted standards and pipelines adopted by TOPMed for its omics resources. In addition, he served on the Steering Committee of Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE). George received his Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the University of Michigan, studying and mapping tumor suppressor effects of regions of chromosome 6 on melanoma in Dr. Jeffrey Trent’s Laboratory of Cancer Genetics at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). He then completed a postdoc and fellowship in statistical genetics in Dr. Alec F. Wilson’s group at the Inherited Disease Research Branch at NHGRI. He also lectured and served as a discussant at Johns Hopkins University.

Team: Office Management Team

Functional Area: Office Management

Programs: Workforce Planning & Development

Lola Peterson joined the Office of Strategic Coordination as a Business Process Specialist in December 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Network and Security, which she earned from the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) in College Park, Maryland. Lola brings a wealth of expertise from her roles in professional government and private sector programs. She has consistently excelled in supporting and managing database, production, and web development initiatives.

Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Other Transactions

Programs: Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI); Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC)

Erna Petrich joined the Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM) within the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) as an Other Transactions Agreements Officer in September 2022. Prior to joining DOTM, Erna worked as an Agreements Officer and Grants Management Specialist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and as a Contracting Officer at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Prior to joining NIH, Erna worked in a variety positions and locations within the Department of Defense. Erna holds a master’s degree in the International Administration from the University of Denver.

Team: Strategic Planning, Evaluation, and Communications (SPEC); Transformational Science and Discovery (TSD)

Functional Area: Communication and Outreach; Program Evaluation and Analysis; Program Strategic Planning; Science Policy; Website Content

Programs: Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP); Somatic Mosaicism Across Human Tissues (SMaHT)

Dena Procaccini, M.A., joined OSC in November of 2018 as the Scientific Program Manager for the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP). Ms. Procaccini received her B.S. from Ursinus College in 1995, and her M.A. from the College of William and Mary in 1997, both in the field of Biology. In 2011, she joined the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as the Scientific Program Analyst for the Epigenomics program. While at NIDA, Ms. Procaccini assisted in the coordination and management of the Roadmap Epigenomics program, the Extracellular RNA Communication program, and the International Human Epigenomics Consortium. In 2017, Ms. Procaccini became the Scientific Program Manager for the Translator Project, where she coordinated the workgroups and liaisons within the program, until she joined OSC.

Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Award Management and Tracking; Other Transactions

Programs: Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS)

Amber Puga joined the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC) Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM) in June 2023. Prior to joining NIH Amber was a grant manager at CRDF Global who managed NIH RePORT and Fogarty Grants and World Health Organization Grants. Amber served as a Budget and Grant Manager with Refugee Services of Texas where she oversaw Office of Victims Crimes Grant with the Department of Justice. Amber earned her undergraduate degree at Our Lady of the Lake University the BA in Philosophy and English and Master of Science in Public Administration at Trinity University.

Team: Transformational Science and Discovery (TSD)

Functional Area: Award Management and Tracking; Budget and Reporting; Other Transactions; Program Evaluation and Analysis; Program Management; Program Strategic Planning

Programs: Nutrition for Precision Health, powered by the All of Us Research Program; Somatic Cell Genome Editing (SCGE); Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC)

Dr. Felicia Qashu joined the Office of Strategic Coordination in 2016. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2009 from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), studying neuroanatomical and electrophysiological changes in the amygdala in a rat model of epilepsy. In 2010, she joined the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) as a scientific advisor, and then became the DVBIC Deputy Director of Research in 2013. At DVBIC, Dr. Qashu was responsible for leading and overseeing a clinical research program on traumatic brain injury (TBI) in military service members and veterans. In addition to her Program Leader role in the Common Fund, Dr. Qashu supported NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Technology (RADx Tech) Initiative, which developed and scaled up the national capacity for diagnostic testing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Other Transactions

Programs: Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM AHEAD); NIH Cloud Platform Interoperability Program (NCPI)

Brianna Quinn joined the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC)-Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM) as an Other Transactions Agreements Specialist in July 2023. Prior to joining OSC, she was a Contract Specialist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and prior to NOAA Ms. Quinn worked for various federal agencies in both financial and program analysis. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology from the University of South Florida and her Juris Doctorate from Stetson University College of Law.

Team: Operations Team

Functional Area: Award Management and Tracking; Budget and Reporting; Program Evaluation and Analysis

Programs: Development and Application of Imaging Technologies for Oculomics (Oculomics) Venture Initiative; Gabriella Miller Kids First (Kids First); Harnessing Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa); Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa); Somatic Cell Genome Editing (SCGE); Systems Biology Data Platform (SysBio) Leveraging the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® (AMP®) Venture Initiative

Selyman Rastani joined the Office of Strategic Coordination in August 2024 as a Management Analyst contractor, providing management and implementation services to the Common Fund programs. Before joining OSC, Selyman served as Senior Finance Manager and analyst in a non-profit organization, where he managed the financial operations of a portfolio of more than ten projects. His responsibilities included, financial management, accounting, data analysis, grants budget review, financial reporting and supporting external audits. Selyman holds a BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brooks University. In addition, he earned an Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business from Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Team: Catalytic Data Resources (CDR)

Functional Area: Program Management

Programs: Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI); Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet); Common Fund Data Ecosystem(CFDE); Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS)

Dr. Haluk Resat joined the Office of Strategic Coordination in 2020, where he leads the Bridge2AI program and is part of the program team helping to integrate data from multiple Common Fund programs within the CFDE. Previously, Dr. Resat was a program director in the Division of Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences (BBCB) at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). In this role, he managed research and training grants in bioinformatics, computational biology, data science, mathematical biology, systems biology, and biotechnology areas. Before joining NIGMS/NIH, Dr. Resat was an associate professor in the Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at Washington State University. He has also worked as a senior research scientist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and was an associate professor at Koç University in Turkey.

Dr. Resat earned a B.S. in physics and electrical engineering from Bogaziçi University in Turkey and a Ph.D. in physics from Stony Brook University. He was a postdoctoral fellow both at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York and the University of California, San Diego.

Team: Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM)

Functional Area: Other Transactions

Programs: Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI); Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC)

Brandon Riley joined the Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC)-Division of Other Transactions Management (DOTM) as an Other Transactions Agreements Specialist in July 2023. Prior to joining OSC, Mr. Riley held a grants management positions at USDA-ARS. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications from Newberry College in South Carolina and his master’s degree in project management from University of Maryland University College.