Our Team

As Vice Provost for Research, Erin Adams provides strategic and comprehensive support to deans and faculty to enable ambitious campus-wide initiatives. She manages large-scale research infrastructure that undergirds the research enterprise, such as the University Research Administration (URA), the Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering (CASE), the Office of Research Safety, Research Computing Center (RCC), and Research Development Support (RDS).

Assistant: Aurora Parra
773-702-9476
aparra@bsd.uchicago.edu

As Assistant Provost for Research, Elena leads strategic planning and implementation of major research initiatives in the Office of Research and across Divisions. Additionally, Elena oversees Research Development Support which identifies and develops large-scale federal funding opportunities and provides comprehensive proposal development support, as well as seed funding for early-stage research. Her other responsibilities include the development of institutional analytics, benchmarking and projections for federal and corporate funding, and the metrics for broader impacts of research. 

She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Behavioral Science at the Booth School of Business. She has conducted brain-imaging and behavioral research and received her doctorate from Harvard University and post-doctoral fellowship from the University of Chicago.

Phone: 773-702-5871
Email: elenaz@uchicago.edu

Rebecca manages the operations of the RDS office and works closely with Office for Research leadership to cultivate research collaborations across the university and with national lab partners. She has extensive experience in both research development and administration of complex research grants, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary scientific topics. She leads the proposal development functions within the office and provides comprehensive grantsmanship guidance toward creating competitive large-scale proposals.

Prior to UChicago, Rebecca worked at Northwestern University in research development roles for the Office for Research Development, the Micro and Nanomechanics Laboratory, and the International Institute for Nanotechnology. She has co-authored over 25 scientific publications, earned a PhD in chemistry and BS in chemistry, with minors in math, physics, and computer science. She began her career in academia as an NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University studying bioinorganic catalysis and spectroscopy.

Phone: 773-702-6758
Email: rebeccamc@uchicago.edu

Silvia is responsible for working directly with UChicago Comprehensive Cancer Center faculty to strategically identify and pursue largescale and multidisciplinary federal funding opportunities as a member of the RDS team. She works collaboratively with other University offices and units including the Office of the Provost, the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University Research Administration, the Office of Federal Relations, and Foundation and Corporate Relations. Silvia has extensive biomedical research experience. She has a PhD in chemistry for regenerative medicine, a MS in biotechnology and a BS in molecular biotechnology.

Prior to UChicago, she was a faculty member at Northwestern University in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and at the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnologies. She co-authored over 40 scientific publications and contributed to over 60 national and international scientific conferences.

Phone: 773-834-3081
Email: sminardi@uchicago.edu

Danijela provides support in research project and proposal development to faculty across departments and institutions. She assists the senior RDS team members in the review of proposals to ensure they align with proposed guidelines and are following University and Federal requirements.

Danijela has extensive experience working in infectious diseases focusing on HIV pathogenesis. Formerly a faculty member in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Northwestern University, Danijela was a Principal Investigator on federally funded research projects studying the connection between HIV and heart disease. She completed her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at Northwestern University and has a BS in biochemistry with a minor in Physics from Beloit College.

Phone: 773-702-9120
Email: dmaric@uchicago.edu

Beth assists in operations and project management for the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering (UChicago CASE). Beth oversees the intake of new members, member database management, communications and processes with affiliated lab liaisons, and onboarding for UChicago CASE including applications and renewals. Beth’s role in seed funding and federal funding support for RDS involves curating, posting, routing, and managing competitions for federal limited opportunities while maintaining the University platforms for federal funding. Beth has a master’s degree in business administration from Benedictine University, where she helped launch and facilitate staff leadership development programming and taught adult undergraduate courses in business and communications.

Phone: 773-702-6532
Email: bethz@uchicago.edu

Boshra brings programmatic leadership and guidance to the pursuit of funding opportunities for large-scale interdisciplinary research, identifying research infrastructure needs, and fostering potential collaborations for faculty members within the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME). Prior to joining UChicago, Boshra held positions at Purdue University. At Purdue she served as the Assistant Department Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, playing a key role in managing the operations of a large department, and was the Program Director for Purdue Systems Collaboratory, an initiative focused on the convergence of knowledge and systems thinking to address complex socio-technical problems.

Her research expertise revolves around investigating nanoscale impacts of swift heavy ion irradiation, utilizing synchrotron-based small-angle X-ray scattering techniques. Boshra has a PhD in Physics from Australian National University and is PMP (Project Management Professional) certified.

Phone: 773-702-4318
Email: afra@uchicago.edu

Matt contributes to RDS initiatives by curating and disseminating funding opportunities for UChicago faculty, centralizing proposal development resources, and supporting the development of large proposals concentrated in the Physical Sciences Division (PSD). Before joining the RDS team, he earned his PhD in chemistry at UChicago, and a BS in chemistry with a minor in math. His graduate research focused on chemical and cell biology, in which he co-authored several published papers, reviews, and essays. Matt is passionate about efficient scientific communication and data presentation at the intersections of research and policy.  

Phone: 773-702-6986
Email: zajacm1@uchicago.edu

Heidi provides professional support for pre-award activities relating to grant proposals and the development of research analytics, working closely with the UChicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. With an interdisciplinary background in art, design, and data analytics she supports RDS with a creative perspective. Prior to joining the UChicago RDS team, she taught at Northwestern University in the Segal Design Institute. As a Design and Prototype Specialist at Northwestern, she served as a design consultant for students and faculty as they created apparatus for research and curriculum. Heidi has a MA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College Chicago and is currently pursuing a MS in Data Science at Northwestern University.

Phone: 773-702-0523
Email: hhuckabay@uchicago.edu

Spending the past eight years of my career in Washington DC, working with the sole aim to understand the workings of the executive and legislative branches has prepared me for the unique challenge of navigating the federal agencies on behalf of the University of Chicago. I spent my first year in Washington as a science fellow at the State Department, learning the intricacies of international science policy with regard to marine conservation issues. Moving on to work at a scientific non-profit like the American Geophysical Union prepared me to work with scientists, and helping them communicate with their Congressional delegations and informing of them of new developments in science policy and funding. Lastly, my previous position working for the UK government at the British Embassy in Washington DC allowed me to work with a broad swath of the science agencies, engaging them on many different levels, leading me to develop an in-depth understanding of how they operate. All of these experiences gave me unique insights which have informed my work at RDS.

Email: kvonholle@uchicago.edu