The Duke Office of Research Initiatives is a collaborative effort, from our strategic directives, to our funding sources, even our team. We have banded together from various departments, offices and institutes all over Duke; we come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Some of us are here part time and some of us devote our full time to the Duke Office of Research Initiatives. However, we all share a passion for supporting scientific pursuits at Duke!
Rebecca Brouwer, Director of Research Initiatives
Rebecca provides strategic and operational leadership of a variety of research initiatives and engagement activities for Duke researchers. The focus of our office is campus-wide, with an emphasis on ensuring coordination and synergy of efforts between various offices, programs, tools, and initiatives. Before operating in this capacity, Rebecca played a variety of roles at Duke since 2000 – working within research teams in the School of Medicine and on campus, and operating in central offices such as the Duke Office of Clinical Research and the Office of Research Informatics.
myRESEARCHsuite
Derek Jones, Associate Director, Research Initiatives, IT Engagement
Derek works with the Duke research community and IT developers in the Office of Academic Solutions and Information Systems to understand the needs of researchers, create effective IT and business process solutions, and facilitate adoption through outreach. He oversees myRESEARCHhome and other CTSA funded IT initiatives. He worked previously as a Clinical Research Coordinator and Research Program Leader in Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine at Duke before joining the team in 2016. Derek has a BA from Westmont College and an M.Div from the Duke Divinity School.
Sunita Patil, Associate Director, myRESEARCHnavigators
Sunita Patil joined the myRESEARCHnavigators team in January 2017 and began leading the team in 2020. She has worked in various capacities during the 15 years of her service in the field of Clinical Research. As a navigator she helps Duke Faculty, Residents, Fellows and students to find resolutions to any questions related to clinical research, connect the investigators to the resources at Duke and facilitate research collaborations. She leads efforts to onboard newly appointed faculty and faculty that are new to Duke. Sunita is also responsible for assistin in several broad efforts at the institution to coordinate proactive services to ensure that research teams are successful in starting and conducting their research.
Amalia Turner, myRESEARCHnavigators
Amalia joined the myRESEARCHnavigators team in March 2020, where she focuses on guiding researchers in both basic and applied sciences to the resources they need. As a former consultant in environmental risk and toxicology, she has more than 12 years’ experience bridging disciplines to achieve a common research goal. In addition, Amalia conducts research on environmental transport of nanomaterials for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and she provides assistance to Team Science programs at Duke. Amalia holds a B.S. in Environmental Science (conc. Biology) from the University of Maine at Farmington and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (cert. Nanoscience) from Duke.
Jeff Everitt, myRESEARCHnavigators
Jeff joined myRESEARCHnavigators team in June 2020, where he focuses on support of basic and clinical science investigators particularly those who utilize animal models. He is an experimental pathologist with many years of experience working on interdisciplinary research teams in both academia and in the private sector. Jeff holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Cornell University and then completed a residency in anatomic pathology at the University of Pennsylvania and a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Illinois. Jeff joined Duke University in 2016.
Kristine Glauber, myRESEARCHnavigators, Team Science
Kristine coordinates programming for a number of groups in the Duke Office of Research Initiatives, including Research Navigators, and Researcher Consultation & Onboarding. However, she dedicates most of her effort to developing and launching programs related to Team Science within the Clinical & Translational Science Institute. Kristine’s background consists of formal training in developmental biology and professional experiences in education, community health, program coordination, marketing, and communications. Through these diverse experiences, she has developed a passion for identifying creative and engaging tools to facilitate and promote scientific research and innovation. Kristine holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of California, Irvine.
Jamie Wylie, Program Director, myRESEARCHpath
Jamie joined the Duke Office of Research Initiatives in 2019 to develop programs that better connect faculty and staff with research resources and support. Her current work focuses on development and launch of the interactive research roadmap, myRESEARCHpath. Prior to joining the Duke Office of Research Initiatives, Jamie served as an Operations Coordinator at the Duke Office of Clinical Research, and as a Program Manager at the Duke Faculty Club. She completed both her B.A. in Exercise and Sport Science and her M.A. in Exercise Physiology at UNC Chapel Hill.
Research Facilitation & Data Security
Rachel Franke, Associate Director
Rachel is always looking to provide Duke researchers with the right combination of security and convenience. She started in the IT Security Office in 2002 and with the Research Data Security team in 2013. In her IT life, before getting into IT security, she did Windows system administration and computer repair. Rachel graduated from Wake Forest University, has completed an MLS degree but never applied it, has held multiple security certifications including the CISSP.
Paul Pooley, Sr. Research Agreements Manager
Paul anticipates and supports the evolving computational and data needs of Duke campus and health system researchers. He works with data providers, regulatory units, and security offices, but his focus is on supporting researchers so they can focus on great science. He shares with them a dedication to doing so with integrity and in a safe, compliant, and ethical manner. After college at UC Santa Barbara, Paul moved to DC and worked for the Karen Silkwood Fund, then to North Carolina to work with the Institute for Southern Studies before entering law school at UNC in 1986. He joined Carolina Legal Assistance, representing people with mental disabilities in North Carolina state hospitals and other settings. For over 15 years he worked as an appellate criminal defense lawyer until joining Duke.
Kristen Lentz, Research Agreements Manager
Kristen assists researchers with developing research and academic project plans, facilitating data use agreements and other research documentation, and identifying institutional approval resources. Prior to joining Duke in 2019, Kristen spent 16 years practicing law in Florida. Her areas of focus were federal civil rights and disability rights litigation affecting individuals with mental illness. Kristen holds a B.S. in Psychology, B.A. in Criminology and J.D. from the University of Florida.
Jason Gordon, PRDN User Services Specialist
Jason's main focus is the administration of the PRDN computing and storage resources. He's been in various forms of IT and telecom for the past decade; first in cellular (Alltel/Verizon), then computer and mobile device sales/support (Apple). Jason spent 5 years with the Duke School of Nursing, first in desktop support then as the Systems Admin, then joined the Research Data Security team in 2016. A historian by trade, his former life and continuing hobby/ part-time consultant work is educating others on African American history and culture.