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Contact Information

Email:  delisa.a.wilson@emory.edu

Biography

Lisa joins Research Administration from Clark Atlanta University where she served as Associate VP for Research and Sponsored Programs. In this role she was responsible for broad oversight of many research offices including basic research, sponsored program administration (pre & post-award, lab operations, and safety, research development, public-private partnerships in support of research, government relations, policy development, compliance monitoring intellectual property (IP) management, technology transfer, and the budget department. She is a certified project management professional who has a proven track record of success in many areas of research administration.

In her new role as Senior Director of Strategic Operations and Training, Lisa will be responsible for operationalizing a strategy across the award lifecycle, developing and implementing ORA staff training, coordinating stakeholder communication, and developing synergies across units to ensure integration, transparency, and efficiency. Her familiarity with the research lifecycle and professional training in project management uniquely positions Lisa to excel in this role and build a robust development and training program within Research Administration.

Lisa has a background in physics receiving a BA from Clark College in Atlanta and subsequently received her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Contact Information

Email: inger.jackson.garnett@emory.edu

Phone: 404-727-0325

Biography

Inger Garnett is the Director of Strategic Operations Team, more commonly known as the ORA Dragon Team. In this role, Inger leads three Strategic Operations’ team members on process improvement initiatives and projects across all offices within the Office of Research Administration (ORA).  Inger brings a diverse background to the Emory University’s ORA community. Prior to her tenure at Emory University, she served as Vice President of Medical Policy Operations at Cotiviti Corporation in Atlanta, GA. In this role Inger was responsible for the overall management and leadership of the end-to-end process for implementations, policy analysis, configuration, auditing, testing, and UAT in a centralized environment for healthcare insurance providers. She has also held positions at the American Cancer Society, McKesson, DeKalb Medical Center, and the US Naval Medical Center.

Inger received her BA in Psychology from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and her MSPH in Health Services Administration from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. She also served as a Medical Service Corp Officer in the US Navy. Inger holds a Green Belt Six Sigma Certification and is currently in the process of completing her Black Belt certification for process improvement. Inger and the Dragon Team works closely with the ORA leadership to provide a process improvement program that would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ORA with the Emory Research community.

Contact Information

Email: sharon.a.jones@emory.edu 

Phone: 404-727-0476

Biography

Sharon is a Strategic Operations Associate with the Dragon Team. In this role, she leads various process improvement initiatives within ORA. Sharon joined Emory University in 2019 and has prior experience in quality management in the healthcare insurance industry. She has bachelors' degrees in Management and International Business from Florida International University. Sharon holds certifications in Six Sigma (Green Belt), software quality (CSQA) and medical coding (CPC). She is currently working on obtaining her Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB).

Contact Information

Email: nicole.m.george@emory.edu

Phone: 404-727-5183

Biography

Nicole joined Emory University in Spring 2014. She's held multiple positions within the Office of Research Administration. As a Strategic Operations Associate, Nicole's responsibilities include leading process improvement projects to develop, implement, and evaluate effective cross-operational solutions.

Nicole brings nearly 18 years of experience in higher education, with over seven of those years in Research Administration. She possesses a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification and an extensive project management background. Nicole earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and a Master's degree in Education.

Contact Information

Email: ashley.e.myers@emory.edu

Phone:  404-727-1785

Biography

Ashley is a Training Design/Communications Manager for the Office of Research Administration (ORA). She joined Emory in 2011 within the Office of Technology Transfer before supporting other offices within the ORA such as Business Operations and Sponsored Programs.

Some of her responsibilities include management of the staff onboarding training and continuing education, development of instructional materials for web-based training, administration of learning content in Emory's Learning Management Systems (LMS), website content management, and Emory ORA communications.

Ashley holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology and a Master’s degree in Education specializing in Learning, Leadership, and Organizational Development from the University of Georgia. She is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi Honors Society in Education and is a member of the professional talent development organization, Association for Talent Development (ATD).

Contact Information

Email: alcarswell@emory.edu

Biography

April Carswell, Ph.D. joined the Office of Research Administration, Strategy, Operations, and Training Department as the Project Manager (PM). As the ORA Project Manager, April will serve as the PM for Dr. Robert Nobles, VPRA. Her responsibilities include supporting research and research operations across the University.  April will manage and lead various projects and initiatives related to ongoing ORA operational programs, including employee engagement, research administration process enhancements, and infrastructure growth.  She will work closely with the ORA Senior Leadership Team on managing program initiatives and internal and external communications of such mission-oriented initiatives.

Before joining Emory University, April served as a Senior Public Health Research Scientist at ICF Inc. for five years. While at ICF, she led public health programmatic, research and evaluation efforts and was the Deputy Project Director for a large federally funded school-health evaluation. She simultaneously served as the IRB Administrator and developed a systematic process to ensure ICF’s compliance with NIH Protection of Human Subjects Regulations. Before ICF, April led community health research efforts across a broad spectrum, including school health, mental health, maternal and child health, sexual health, faith-based interventions, and chronic disease management.

April received her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Memphis in social and behavioral sciences. She received her master’s of science degree specializing in epidemiology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN, and a bachelor's degree in biology from Lane College.