Our Teams

Cathy Barrera, Assistant Vice President, Sponsored Research
c-barrera@northwestern.edu

For an overview of the Sponsored Research office, see our organization chart. Expand the options below to read more about each team and to see a listing of team members. For information about capsules, visit our Capsules page.

Proposals and Award Acceptance

The Proposals and Award Acceptance Team provides both pre- and post-award support to the Northwestern research community including, but not limited to, proposal review and submission, award negotiation and acceptance and post-award non-financial management. The team is comprised of Sponsored Research Officers, who also serve as official administrative points of contact at Northwestern University.

Andrea Zakrzewski, Senior Director, Proposals & Award Acceptance
a-zakrzewski@northwestern.edu

Carrie Holbo, Assistant Director, Proposals
carrie.holbo@northwestern.edu

Anna Roth, Associate Sponsored Research Officer
anna.roth@northwestern.edu

Daniel (Johnson) Megyeri, Associate Sponsored Research Officer
johnsondanielj@northwestern.edu

Lindsay Haukebo, Associate Sponsored Research Officer
lindsay.haukebo@northwestern.edu

Maggie Hays, Associate Sponsored Research Officer
maggie.hays@northwestern.edu

Olivia Gill, Associate Sponsored Research Officer
olivia.gill@northwestern.edu

Jason Hawkins, Assistant Director, Award Acceptance
jason.hawkins@northwestern.edu

Adrienne Simms, Sponsored Research Officer
adrienne.simms@northwestern.edu

Alyssa Morren, Sponsored Research Officer
alyssa.morren@northwestern.edu

Mary Rosenthal, Sponsored Research Officer
m-rosenthal3@northwestern.edu

Nadine Killick, Sponsored Research Officer
nkillick@northwestern.edu

Pamela Hawkins, Senior Sponsored Research Officer
p-hawkins@northwestern.edu

Stephanie Logaras, Sponsored Research Officer
s-logaras@northwestern.edu

Taylor Carl, Sponsored Research Officer
taylor.carl@northwestern.edu

(Open), Assistant Director, Award Management

Aaron Sklar, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
aaron.sklar@northwestern.edu

Christian Zavala, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
christian.zavalabucio@northwestern.edu

Jack Jeffries, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
jack.jeffries@northwestern.edu

Joshua Katsimpalis, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
joshua.katsimpalis@northwestern.edu

Nino Campos, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
n-campos@northwestern.edu

Vanessa Santamaria, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
vanessa.santamaria@northwestern.edu

Vianey Rodriguez, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
vianey.rodriguez@northwestern.edu

Contracts & Negotiations

The Contract and Negotiations Team drafts, reviews, and negotiates agreements and contracts for sponsored research projects, and ensures that all contracts and agreements comply with Northwestern University policies and processes. The team consists of Contracts and Negotiation Managers, Contracts Officers, and Contracts Coordinators.

Clay Arnett, Senior Director, Contracts & Negotiations
clay.arnett@northwestern.edu

Adrienne Lundquist, Associate Director, Contracts & Negotiations
adrienne.lundquist@northwestern.edu

Ben Feilich, Assistant Director, Contracts & Negotiations
benjamin.feilich@northwestern.edu

Avril Xinyi Liu, Contracts & Negotiations Manager
avril.xinyi.liu@northwestern.edu

Bria Daily, Contracts & Negotiations Manager
bria.daily@northwestern.edu

Claire Schneider, Associate Contracts Officer
claire.schneider@northwestern.edu

Debbie Thomas, Contracts Officer
debbie.thomas@northwestern.edu

Jeff Mollet, Contracts Officer
jeff.mollet@northwestern.edu

Kayla Jennings, Contracts Officer
kayla.jennings@northwestern.edu

Kendall Simms, Associate Contracts Officer
kendall.simms@northwestern.edu

Khala Turner, Contracts Officer
khala.turner@northwestern.edu

Marlene Isom, Contracts Officer
marlene.isom@northwestern.edu

Maureen McCabe, Contracts & Negotiations Manager
maureen.mccabe@northwestern.edu

Nathan Johnson, Associate Contracts Officer
nathan.johnson@northwestern.edu

Olivia Kappers, Contracts Officer
olivia.kappers@northwestern.edu

Subcontracts Management

The Subcontracts Management Team drafts, issues, negotiates, and executes outgoing subcontract agreements, conducts subrecipient risk assessments, and completes post execution activities such as federal FFATA reporting. The team consists of Sponsored Research Officers and a Subcontracts Coordinator.

Tyra Darville-Layne, Director, Subcontracts Management
td-layne@northwestern.edu

Lora Zygman, Assistant Director, Subcontracts Management
lora.zygman@northwestern.edu

Brenna Poole, Compliance Specialist
brennan.poole@northwestern.edu

Danielle Giddens, Sponsored Research Officer
danielle.giddens@northwestern.edu

Jeri Gann, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
jeri-@northwestern.edu

Natalie Corbin, Sponsored Research Officer
natalie.corbin@northwestern.edu

Suzan Zarour, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
suzan.zarour@northwestern.edu

Tahir Fazal, Assistant Sponsored Research Officer
tahir.fazal@northwestern.edu

Tiffany Gregory, Sponsored Research Officer
tiffany.gregory@northwestern.edu

Vanessa Garcia, Associate Sponsored Research Officer
vanessa.garcia@northwestern.edu

Zara Khan, Associate Sponsored Research Officer
zara.khan@northwestern.edu

Business Systems & Operations

The Business Systems and Operations Team supports Sponsored Research’s electronic research administration initiatives, ensures the highest quality sponsored projects data, communicates timely information to the research community, and facilitates efficient business process across the SR office. BSO consists of three groups:

a systems and data group that provides functional support to CERES users, analyzes and reports research data, and ensures data integrity for proposal and award activity;
an awards setup group that established awards in Northwestern enterprise systems and processes post-award management reporting and requests;
a coordinator group that manages workflow for units within SR.

Sara Krentz, Director, Business Systems and Operations
s-krentz@northwestern.edu

Systems and Data

Alexa Palmero, Data Assistant
alexa.palmero@northwestern.edu

Amelia Weiss, Sponsored Research Senior Analyst
amelia.weiss@northwestern.edu

James Godowic, Sponsored Research Senior Analyst
james.godowic@northwestern.edu

Michael Scherer, Sponsored Research Senior Analyst
michael.scherer@northwestern.edu

Awards Setup

Jordan Mathews, Award Setup Associate
jordan.mathews@northwestern.edu

Julius Alexander, Award Setup Associate
julius.alexander@northwestern.edu

Kat Harris, Award Setup Associate
katura.harris@northwestern.edu

Kat Nydegger, Award Setup Associate
kathryn.nydegger@northwestern.edu

Lucy Highland, Award Setup Associate
lucy.highland@northwestern.edu

Trin Kitisoontornpong, Award Setup Associate
trin.kitisoontornpong@northwestern.edu

Communications, Administration, & Training

The communications, administration, and training team manages the sponsored research website and listservs, provides support for office operations, and develops training resources.

Melissa Mizwa, Associate Director, Administration & Strategic Communications
mmizwa@northwestern.edu

Rowena Kramer, Training Specialist
rowena.kramer@northwestern.edu

Ashley Reyes, Program Coordinator
ashley.reyes@northwestern.edu