University Research Council

The Research Council was chartered by the administration and faculty government to foster, encourage and promote research by members of the faculty and students. Specific policy recommendations are referred to the Executive Vice President and Provost. The functions of the Council fall within four categories:

  • Research Policy. The Council is responsible for the development and review of the University's policy on sponsored programs which exists to assure the orderly conduct and growth of research and other sponsored activities within the framework of the educational objectives of the University.
  • Research Planning. It is a function of the Council to guide the development and growth of research activities through its advisory role to the Faculty Senate.
  • Allocation of Funds. When requested, the Council assists in providing equitable distribution of funds for the support of research when such funds are made available from University resources or, in certain cases, from extramural grants to the institution as a whole.
  • Communication. The Council is responsible for bringing to the attention of the various other functional units of both the faculty and the administration any matters that properly concern the faculty engaged in research activity.

The Research Council has five committees aligned with Research Strategic Plan goals, as listed below. Find Committee Chairs/Co-Chairs and VPRS Staff Liaisons at the top of each list.

Policy & Process Commitee

Tonya Sautier

Sr. Business Officer, Finance and Administration

tsautier@miami.edu

(305) 243-7808
As Senior Business Officer for the Office of the Vice Provost for Research + Scholarship, Tonya Sautier leads all aspects of budget, finance, human resources, operations, administration, and special projects for the organization. She serves as the principal liaison between the Vice Provost and University administration, departmental...

Soyeon Ahn

Professor

s.ahn@miami.edu

(305) 284-2929
Soyeon Ahn received her Ph.D. in Measurement and Quantitative Methods in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education at Michigan State University in 2008. She joined the EPS faculty in August, 2008. Ahn’s current research focuses on the application of the existing data analytic techniques in resolving the...

Roberta Brambilla

Associate Professor

rbrambilla@miami.edu

(305) 243-3567

Sonia R. Chao

Associate Dean of Research

schao@miami.edu

Associate Dean of Research, U-SoACo-Director, Master of Prof. Science in Urban Sustainability & ResilienceFaculty Lead on Climate, Environment & Resilience, UMIASecondary Appointment, College of EngineeringExecutive Board Member, Florida Climate Institute Sonia Chao is the Associate Dean of Research at the University of Miami...

Amy C Clement

Professor

aclement@miami.edu

(305) 421-4846
Dr.  Amy Clement earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Columbia College, and Ph.D. from the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Columbia University, where she studied climate dynamics on multiple timescales, from the glacial period to future climate change. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University...

Victoria Orrego Dunleavy

Assoc. Professor

vorrego@miami.edu

(305) 284-3052

Jill Ehrenreich-May, Ph.D.

Professor
Associate Chair, Department of Psychology
Director, Child and Adolescent Mood and Anxiety Treatment Program
Director of Graduate Studies

j.ehrenreich@miami.edu

(305) 284-6476
Dr. Jill Ehrenreich-May is a Professor and Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami. Dr. Ehrenreich-May's research is concerned with the development and evaluation of transdiagnostic programs for youth presenting with or at risk for anxiety, depression and related concerns. She...

Mousumi Ghosh

Research Associate Professor

mghosh@miami.edu

(305) 243-9968

Uzma Khan

Assoc. Professor
PhD Coordinator, Marketing

uxk22@miami.edu

Uzma Khan is associate professor of marketing at University of Miami. Khan is an expert on consumer behavior, marketing management, strategy, branding, and decision-making. Her research focuses on diversity, goals and motivation, risk perception, and choice architecture. Her work has won several awards and has been published in top journals...

Sandra M Merscher

Research Professor

smerscher@miami.edu

(305) 243-6567

Sam Purkis

Professor
and Chair of the Department of Marine Geosciences

sxp918@miami.edu

(305) 421-4351
At a young age I was fortunate enough to stumble on a copy of Jacques Cousteau’s 1953 book “The Silent World”, which piqued my interest in everything underwater. Shortly thereafter, I saw his movie of the same name. I was hooked. At the earliest possible opportunity I learnt to SCUBA dive, becoming a diving...

Pablo Rueda Saiz

Associate Professor of Law

pxr471@miami.edu

(305) 284-5401
The primary interests of Professor Rueda-Saiz include international and comparative constitutional law, law and society, social movements, armed conflict, and globalization. He has taught law at the University of Wisconsin, at the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, and at the Universities of El Rosario and Los Andes in Colombia. He...

Scott E. Sundby

Professor of Law
Robert C. Josefsberg Endowed Chair in Criminal Justice Advocacy and Dean's Distinguished Scholar

s.sundby@miami.edu

(305) 284-5848
Scott Sundby is the Robert C. Josefsberg Endowed Chair in Criminal Justice Advocacy and teaches a variety of courses in the criminal law and procedure area. After clerking for Judge Phyllis Kravitch of the Eleventh Circuit, he began his teaching career at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. He later moved to Washington &...

Liyong Wang

Research Associate Professor

lwang1@miami.edu

(305) 243-2377

Ashli C White

Assoc. Professor
Chair of History Department

acwhite@miami.edu

(305) 284-5005
Ashli White earned a BA from the University of Virginia, an MA from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.  She specializes in early American history, with particular attention to the connections between North America and the Atlantic World.  To date, most of her research has...

Shu Wu

Professor of Clinical

swu2@miami.edu

(305) 585-6408

Research-Enabling Services Committee

Cynthia Nicole Lebron

Asst. Professor

clebron@miami.edu

(305) 243-4146
PhD, MPH Dr. Lebron is a prevention scientist whose research lies at the intersection of racial/ethnic health disparities in obesity and maternal and child health. She began in research as a community health worker (promotora de salud) at the Miami Healthy Heart Initiative for Hispanics with diabetes (R01 HL083857). She went on to work as a...

Sheela Celeste Dominguez

Executive Director, Strategic Operations

sdominguez@miami.edu

(305) 243-9051
As Executive Director for Strategic Operations and co-administrator of the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), Sheela leads reporting, evaluation, finance, project management, and programmatic activities. She serves as the primary liaison between the CTSI with the Office of the Vice Provost for Research + Scholarship,...

Elizabeth A Babcock

Professor

ebabcock@miami.edu

(305) 421-4852
Position and Research Expertise Beth Babcock is a Professor of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She is an expert on fish population dynamics, quantitative ecology and fisheries management. Teaching and Mentoring Babcock teaches graduate course on...

Germane Barnes

Assoc. Professor

g.barnes@miami.edu

(305) 284-3731
Barnes’ research and design practice investigates the connection between architecture and identity. Mining architecture’s social and political agency, he examines how the built environment influences black domesticity. Currently, he is an Associate Professor and Director of the Community Housing Identity Lab (CHIL) at the...

Nicholas Carcioppolo

Associate Professor

n.carcioppolo@miami.edu

(305) 284-5633

Sapna K. Deo

Professor

sdeo@miami.edu

(305) 243-4421

Caleb D Scotti Everett

Professor

caleb@miami.edu

(305) 284-2535
Caleb's research examines language and its interaction with nonlinguistic cognition, culture, and the environment. For more information and a more complete list of Caleb's publications, visit his personal site.

Mohamed Iskandarani

Professor

miskandarani@miami.edu

(305) 421-4045
Mohamed Iskandarani is a Professor of Oceanography in the Department of Ocean Sciences at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. He also holds an adjunct faculty position in the department of Computer Science. His expertise revolves around the development of new computational methods and...

Suhrud M Rajguru

Professor

s.rajguru@miami.edu

(305) 243-7946
Suhrud Rajguru, Ph.D., is a Professor at the University of Miami, Research Health Scientist at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and founder and Chief Scientific Officer of RestorEar Devices, LLC. The NeuroTherapeutics group led by Dr. Rajguru carries out research with translational focus on characterization, diagnosis and treatment of hearing...

Thilani Samarakoon

Librarian Asst. Professor

txs945@miami.edu

Thilani Samarakoon joined the University of Miami in March 2020 as Biomedical Data Librarian and a Librarian Assistant Professor. She provides data services to the faculty, researchers, and students at the University of Miami medical campus community. She works for the Data Services unit at the University of Miami Libraries.Thilani received her...

Andres Sawicki

Professor of Law
Director, Business of Innovation, Law, & Technology (BILT) Concentration

a.sawicki@umiami.edu

(305) 284-8447
Andres Sawicki is a Professor of Law and Director of the Business of Innovation, Law, and Technology Concentration (BILT) and teaches in the area of intellectual property. His primary research projects explore the extent to which IP can help solve problems in the production of inventions and expressive works. He is...

Brian J Soden

Professor
Associate Dean, Master of Professional Science
Associate Dean, Graduate Studies

bsoden@miami.edu

(305) 421-4202
Position and Research Expertise Brian Soden is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. He specializes in the use of satellite observations to test and improve computer simulations of Earth's climate. His areas of interest include understanding...

Hugh M Thomas

Professor

h.thomas@miami.edu

(305) 284-1556
Professor Thomas received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1988 and has taught at the University of Miami since then. He specializes in the history of Medieval Europe, focusing on England. His first book, Vassals, Crusaders, Heiresses, and Thugs: The Gentry of Angevin Yorkshire, was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in...

Marjana Tomic Canic

Professor

mtcanic@miami.edu

(305) 243-4940

Diversity Committee

Olena Antonaccio

Professor
Director of Criminology and Criminal Justice MS/Certificate Program

oantonaccio@miami.edu

(305) 284-2075
Olena Antonaccio is a professor at the Department of Sociology and Criminology. Her areas of specialty are crime, social control, and sociological theory. Her research interests include empirical tests and the development of theories of crime and victimization and their application to various problem areas such as cybersecurity, particularly...

Denise Christina Vidot

Associate Professor

dvidot@miami.edu

(305) 284-5740
PhD Dr. Denise C. Vidot is a cannabis and psychedelics epidemiologist certified in cannabis patient care. Her NIH-funded post-doctoral training was in advanced epidemiologic methodology and cardiovascular clinical research with the NHLBI-funded multi-state cohort study, the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos at the University of...

Bridget Christine Arce

Associate Professor

carce@miami.edu

(305) 284-5585
B. Christine Arce is Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Miami and Director of the American Studies Program. She served from 2018 to 2022  as Director of Graduate Studies for the Doctorate in Comparative Cultural & Linguistic Studies. Dr. Arce received a doctoral degree from...

Kelsa Bartley

Librarian Asst. Professor

k.bartley@miami.edu

(305) 243-5530

Laura Bianchi

Professor

l.bianchi@miami.edu

(305) 243-1887

Jomills Henry Braddock, II

Professor

braddock@miami.edu

(305) 284-6113

Donna Kay Coker

Professor of Law
Social Justice/Public Interest Concentration Affiliated Faculty

d.coker@miami.edu

(305) 284-3041
Professor Donna Coker teaches Evidence; Substantive Criminal Law; Gender Violence and Social Justice; Social Justice Lawyering; Restorative Justice and Law; Mass Incarceration: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies; and Criminal Justice Policy Reform. She has twice received a Provost’s Research Award (2017, 2021). Students awarded her the...

Donette Francis

Assoc. Professor
Director for the Center for Global Black Studies

d.francis@miami.edu

(305) 284-5608
Donette Francis is director for the Center for Global Black Studies and past director the American Studies Program at the University of Miami. An Associate Professor of English and founding member of the Hemispheric Caribbean Studies Collective, her research and writing investigate place, aesthetics and cultural politics in the African...

Sophia George

Assoc. Professor

sxg890@miami.edu

(305) 243-2036

Martin Grosell

Professor
AND CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY

mgrosell@miami.edu

(305) 421-4623
Martin Grosell, PhD is the lead PI and director of the GoMRI funded research consortium RECOVER (http://recover.rsmas.miami.edu/). Dr. Grosell is a Maytag professor of ichthyology with specialty in environmental physiology and toxicology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Sciences in the...

Christina Lane

Professor

clane@miami.edu

(305) 284-3657

Sammi Yu Tang

Assoc. Professor

ytang@miami.edu

(305) 284-2810
Sammi Tang is an Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the University of Miami Herbert Business School. Her research addresses issues related to supply chain risk management, outsourcing and procurement strategies, sustainable supply chains, and topics in the interface of operations management and marketing, and...

Charlotte Von Moos

Asst. Professor

cxv393@miami.edu

Charlotte von Moos is a practicing architect and researcher. Together with Florian Sauter, she is the cofounder of the architectural practice Sauter von Moos based in Basel, Switzerland, and Miami. The studio engages in work on all scales, both in theory and practice. Von Moos holds a Master degree from the Federal Institute of Zurich, where she...

Qingda Yang

Professor and Department Chair

qdyang@miami.edu

(305) 284-3221
Dr. Yang's research has focused mainly on developing multi-scale methodologies that can lead to realistic virtual testing and designing of complex heterogeneous materials and structures. My research has been funded by federal agencies such as NSF, NASA, AFOSR, ARO, NAVY, and DARPA , and industrial companies including Teledyne and Boeing. I...

Research Cores and Facilities Committee

George S. Grills

Associate Director, SCCC Shared Resources

gxg766@miami.edu

(617) 721-9343

Laura B. Kozma

Assoc. VP, Research Administration

lbk53@miami.edu

(305) 284-3965
Laura Kozma, Associate Vice President for Research Administration, provides leadership for sponsored administration which includes proposal review and approval, contract negotiations, award management and compliance monitoring, and serves as audit liaison for the Institution for sponsored awards. In this same capacity, she is also responsible...

Jae Lee

Professor

jlee22@miami.edu

(305) 243-2646

Eden R Martin

Professor

emartin1@miami.edu

(305) 243-2372

Armando J Mendez, Ph.D.

Research Assoc. Professor

amendez2@miami.edu

(305) 243-5342

Shari Messinger, Ph.D.

Professor

s.messinger@miami.edu

(305) 243-4465
Field of Interest: Diabetes, Clinical Trials, Biomarkers & Clinical Biostatistics Dr. Shari Messinger is a Professor in the Division of Biostatistics and Director of Biostatistics Collaboration and Consulting Core. She additionally serves as Director of the Research Design and Biostatistics Program of the Miami CTSI.  Dr. Messinger...

Carlos T Moraes, Ph.D.

Professor

cmoraes@miami.edu

(305) 243-5858

Charles Vincent Tomonto

Professor Prof. Practice

cvt6@miami.edu


Arlette C. Perry

Professor

aperry@miami.edu

(305) 284-3024
Arlette Perry joined the University of Miami faculty and became Director of the Laboratory of Clinical and Applied Physiology (formerly known as Human Performance and Research Laboratory) in 1981. She is currently the chair of the Kinesiology and Sport Sciences Department. Perry holds a secondary appointment in the School of Medicine’s...

Mark Yeager

Professor
Executive Director of the Frost Institute for Chemistry and Molecular Science

mxy499@miami.edu

(858) 344-1834
The ultimate goal of our studies is to gain a deeper understanding of the molecular basis for important human diseases such as sudden death, myocardial infarction, rotavirus infection and HIV infection that cause substantial mortality and suffering. The structural details revealed by our work may provide clues for the design of more effective...

Ravi Vadapalli

Research Assoc. Professor
Director, Advanced Computing, Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing

rxv441@miami.edu

(786) 913-0584
DIRECTOR, ADVANCED COMPUTING, Institute for DATA SCIENCE AND COMPUTING (IDSC) Dr. Vadapalli joined IDSC after serving as Program Director for the Center for Agile and Adaptive Additive Manufacturing and Senior Director for IT Support at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton. Prior to UNT, Dr. Vadapalli was a Senior Research Scientist at...

Evelyn Cruz

Director, Business Operations

ecruz3@miami.edu

(305) 243-7990

Erica Newcome

Librarian Asst. Professor

exn297@miami.edu

(305) 284-4059
Erica Newcome is the STEM and Interdisciplinary Research Librarian at the University of Miami Libraries. She has a Master of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Science in Conservation and Resources Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.  Prior to arriving at the University of...

Julia Zaias

Research Assoc. Professor

jzaias@miami.edu

(305) 243-2310
Julia Zaias, DVM, PhD, DACLAM is Director of the Division of Veterinary Resources and an Associate Professor of Pathology in the Division of Comparative Pathology. In this role, Dr. Zaias is the lead for ensuring the safety of animals in University laboratories and compliance with regulations regarding animal studies. She received her...

Kenneth Broad

Professor

kbroad@miami.edu

(305) 421-4851
Dr. Kenneth Broad is Director of the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy and Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at UM's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Additionally, he holds a joint appointment at Columbia University, where he serves as Co-Director of the Center...

Brian K Haus

Professor

bhaus@miami.edu

(305) 421-4932
Experimental studies of coastal ocean surface currents for application to oil spill transport prediction and response (CARTHE); radar remote sensing of oceanographic processes from satellites in collaboration with CSTARS and from coastal radars (http://iwave.rsmas.miami.edu); shelf and inlet dynamics; wave-current interactions;...

Guoqing Lin

Professor

glin@miami.edu

(305) 421-4150
Earthquake relocation, seismic velocity and attenuation tomography, volcano seismology, subduction earthquakes, and spatial/temporal variations of seismic properties.

Michael C. Schmale

Professor
Director of the National Resource for Aplysia

mschmale@miami.edu

(305) 421-4140
Michael Schmale is a Professor of Marine Biology and Ecology and Director of the National Resource for Aplysia. Dr. Schmale’s research interests are in the development and study of marine animal models of disease processes, with an emphasis on cancer and viral diseases.

Yun Wu

Executive Director, Research Accounting & Cost Analysis

yxw1628@miami.edu

(305) 284-4014

Kris Roth

Sr. Manager, Accounting & Cost Analysis

kra24@miami.edu

(305) 284-9849

Interdisciplinarity Committee

Kiara R Timpano, Ph.D.

Professor
Director, Adult Division, Department of Psychology
Clinical Psychology Faculty

k.timpano@miami.edu

(305) 284-1592
Dr. Kiara Timpano is the Director of the Program for Anxiety, Stress, and OCD (PASO), and a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami. Her research interests include understanding risk and vulnerability factors that play a role in the etiology, comorbidity, and maintenance of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive spectrum...

Eleonore Beurel

Professor

ebeurel@miami.edu

(305) 243-0263

Jaswinder Bolina

Associate Professor
Chair of English Department
Chair of Creative Writing Department

j.bolina@miami.edu

(305) 284-2113
Personal Site Jaswinder Bolina’s English as a Second Language and Other Poems is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press in October 2023.  His debut collection of essays Of Color (2020) is available now from McSweeney’s.  His previous books include The 44th...

Berit Brogaard

Professor
Cooper Fellow
Director of the Brogaard Lab for Multisensory Research

bxb177@miami.edu

(305) 877-7353
Berit “Brit” Brogaard is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Brogaard Lab. Her areas of research include philosophy of perception, philosophy of emotions, and philosophy of language. She is the author of Transient Truths (Oxford University Press, 2012), On Romantic Love (Oxford University Press, 2015), The Superhuman...

Alejandro Caicedo, Ph.D.

Professor

acaicedo@miami.edu

(305) 243-6025

Mary Beth Calhoon

Assoc. Professor

mxc568@miami.edu

(305) 284-4961
Mary Beth Calhoon, Ph.D., received her doctorate in Special Education from the Peabody College, Vanderbilt University in 1999. She is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Miami.Her primary area of expertise focuses on literacy, mathematics, peer-tutoring, and Date-Based...

Cecily D Cooper

Professor

cecily@miami.edu

(305) 284-8585
Cecily Cooper joined the Miami Herbert Business School in 2003 and teaches courses related to Organizational Behavior and Leadership. Her research interests include humor, trust, trust repair, and political ideology. Dr. Cooper’s research has been published in many leading Management journals including Academy of Management Review,...

Jennifer L Ferriss-Hill

Professor
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and College Diversity

j.ferrisshill@miami.edu

(305) 284-4036
Jennifer Ferriss-Hill received her A.B. in Classics summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University (2002) and her Ph.D. in Classical Philology from Harvard University (2008). She joined the University of Miami in 2009 as an Assistant Professor of Classics, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2015,...

Jorge Hernandez

Professor

jhernandez@miami.edu

(305) 284-2278
Jorge L. Hernandez, received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Miami in 1980 and a Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia in 1985. He then worked for Eisenman Roberton Architects and taught at The University of Virginia. In 1987 he joined the faculty of the University of Miami and established his firm. His work...

Alan Oscar Johnson

Professor

ajohnson1@miami.edu

(305) 284-1567
Quote Students receive the highest caliber of training and the broadest range of experiential opportunities at the Frost School of Music. The faculty ranks with the best in the world and know what it takes to prepare and guide their students for meaningful careers in life, music, and the arts. Biography Alan Johnson is a Professor in the...

Benjamin Kirtman

Professor
William R Middelthon III Endowed Chair of Earth Sciences
Director: Cooperative Institute for Marine & Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS)
Deputy Director: Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC)
Program Director: IDSC Earth Systems

bkirtman@miami.edu

(305) 421-4046
Position and Research Expertise Ben Kirtman is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. He uses atmosphere-ocean general circulation models to study the predictability and variability of the Earth’s climate system. Teaching and...

Tamara R Lave

Professor of Law

t.lave@miami.edu

(305) 284-1899
After graduating from Stanford Law School, Professor Lave was a deputy public defender for ten years in San Diego, California. As a P.D., she handled a variety of cases including possession of a spiny lobster out of season, torture, child molestation, rape, and murder. She also represented accused sexually violent predators in civil commitment...

Teresa L Lesiuk

Professor

tlesiuk@miami.edu

(305) 284-3650
Teresa Lesiuk, Ph.D., is associate professor and program director for the Music Therapy program at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. She is a board-certified music therapist and a member of the American Music Therapy Association and the Southeastern Region of the AMTA. She is also the North American representative of the Education...

Diego Lirman

Assoc. Professor

dlirman@miami.edu

(305) 421-4168
Diego Lirman currently works at the Department of Marine Biology & Ecology, University of Miami. Diego does research in Phycology, Marine Biology and Ecology. Their current project is 'Rescue A Reef Citizen Science Program.

M Danielle McDonald

Professor
Associate Dean of Research

dmcdonald@miami.edu

(305) 421-4856
Danielle McDonald is a Professor of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She is an expert in fish physiology and behavior with a focus on how physiology and behavior may change during times of environmental stress such as social stress, pollution...

Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos

Associate Professor

lxr382@miami.edu

(305) 284-3489
Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Miami’s College of Engineering. He is an expert in structural morphology, which investigates the relationship between structures, as well as their form, function, material and forces. He...