CELEBRATING WOMEN IN NITRD
The National Coordination Office honors Women’s History Month, which is during the month of March, by celebrating the women in NITRD who contribute to the Program.
“Everyone wins when we have an inclusive image of a STEM professional: this allows us to increase the talent pool, foster critical STEM skills among the broader community, and promote a healthier, more culturally sensitive workplace… An inclusive workforce provides a rich set of perspectives that enable innovation and creative discovery. I’m proud to say the NITRD Co-chairs and the NCO are committed to an inclusive NITRD, and so I challenge you with this question: What will you do today to empower a co-worker, neighbor, relative, or friend?” – Kamie Roberts, Program Manager, NIST Artificial Intelligence Executive Order and Former NCO Director and Co-chair, NITRD Subcommittee (August 2018 – October 2023).
In honor of Women’s History Month, NITRD illustrated the contributions made by women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Take a journey through history with our Influential Women in STEM webpage and learn more women that have made contributions in STEM. Need a bit of inspiration? Find empowering quotes made by women in STEM who have brought great achievements to society on our Inspirational Quotes by Influential Women in STEM webpage. Need insight or encouragement on entering a STEM field? Check out the Insight into STEM Careers webpage, where five women give advice that would have been beneficial when they began their path in STEM.
Women in NITRD – Public Sector
Nina Amla
NSF
Senior Science Advisor
Dr. Nina Amla is the Senior Science Advisor for the Computer Information Science and Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation.
Rael Ammon
HHS
Management Analyst
Rael develops new programs to address emerging public health issues, including the opioid epidemic and natural disaster response, in America’s communities. NITRD’s collaboration offers her innovative uses for new technologies that can make a positive impact on public health nationwide.
Maya A. Bernstein
HHS
Lawyer and Subject Matter Expert
Maya is a lawyer and subject matter expert with 30+ years of experience in information policy. She started her federal career at OMB and also served as the Privacy Advocate of the IRS. In her current role, she represents HHS in government-wide policy discussions especially regarding the sharing of identifiable data in complex IT environments. Her work encompasses the breadth HHS activities, including medical records privacy, access to research data and information quality, consumer-generated information, social welfare, insider threats, pandemic response, and reproductive health. She is an appointed member of the Federal Privacy Council and was the recipient of its Award for Excellence in 2021.
Cindy L. Bethel
NSF
NSF Program Director (IPA)
Cindy Bethel is a Program Director with the National Science Foundation. Her work focuses on the interaction of people with technology. These include Human-Robot Interaction, Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Centered Cybersecurity, and Ethical & Responsible Research. She is on leave from Mississippi State University where she is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and the Director of the Social, Therapeutic, and Robotic Systems Lab.
Moria Bittmann
NIH
Program Director
Moria is a mechanical and bioengineer who manages robotics, bionics, and medical simulators programs at NIBIB. Her professional interests include biomedical robotic technologies and ethics related to medical devices.
Laura Biven
NIH
Data Science Technical Lead
Laura is a Data Science Technical Lead at the Office of Data Science Strategy, Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health.
Cheri Caddy
DOE
Senior Technical Advisor for Cybersecurity
Cheri leads coordination of cyber R&D efforts and alignment with national R&D priorities and policy. Her research focuses on cyber for operational technology and converged architectures. She has led technical projects in cyber vulnerability testing, supply chain security, and technical standards in senior roles at the White House and spanning the intelligence, defense, and critical infrastructure security communities. Cheri has been a Senior Cybersecurity Fellow at the McCrary Institute for Cyber & Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University since 2017.
Almadena Y. Chtchelkanova
NSF
Program Director, CISE/CCF
Dr. Almadena Chtchelkanova is a Program Director at the CISE Directorate at NSF managing awards in the areas HPC, Foundations of Emerging Technologies, Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation, etc. She spent five years at Strategic Analysis, Inc. providing support to DARPA, and four years at NRL. Dr. Chtchelkanova has MA in CS from UT Austin and Ph.D. in physics from Moscow Lomonosov State University in Russia.
Allison Dennis
NIH
Program Officer, NLM
Dr. Allison Dennis serves as a Program Officer at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) of NIH. She manages awards in the areas of Bioinformatics, Translational Informatics, Personal Health Informatics, and the SBIR/STTR program. Prior to joining NLM, Dr. Dennis oversaw initiatives in AI with the NIH Office of Data Science Strategy where she advanced health IT standards for scientific discovery with ONC.
Dilma Da Silva
NSF
Acting Assistant Director
Dr. Dilma Da Silva is an acting Assistant Director at Directorate for Computer Information Science and Engineering, Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), National Science Foundation
Wei Ding
University of Massachusetts Boston & NSF
Professor, UMass Boston & Program Director, NSF
Dr. Wei Ding is a Program Director of NSF’s Information and Intelligent Systems Division. She is a Professor of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Ding is an IEEE fellow. Her research interests include data mining, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computational semantics, and with applications to health sciences, astronomy, geosciences, and environmental sciences.
Marla L. Dowell
NIST
Director, NIST CTL and NIST Boulder Laboratory
Marla leads an interdisciplinary NIST Laboratory with emphasis on standards, measurements, and advanced communications research to enable dramatic changes in how consumers, manufacturers, governments, and others provide and consume information, transact business, provide and use essential services. She works closely with its partners in industry, academia, and across the federal government to address the insatiable societal demand for connectivity, one that requires significant advancements in communication technologies.
Deborah Guadalupe Duran
NIH
Sr Advisor to Director. National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Dr. Duran is the Senior Advisor on Data Science, Analytics and Systems to the Director of the National Institutes of Minority and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health. She focuses on implicit and explicit biases in data curation, AI designs, algorithm development, and the impacts on communities. She strives to increase underrepresented women and diverse populations capacity to utilize big data, cloud computing, and data science resources. She developed the ScHARe (Science Collaborative for Health disparities and Artificial intelligence bias Reduction) Research Collaboration Cloud Platform Cloud Platform focusing on social science data, including social determinants of health, to better understand health disparities and health inequities.
Christine Dymek
AHRQ
Director, Digital Healthcare Research Division, HHS
Christine is a computer scientist and health IT researcher who is dedicated to advancing the productive use of information technology within health care. Her team focuses on providing foundational research in AI-related innovations for healthcare, health IT usability, consumer health IT, clinical decision support, health IT safety, and patient-reported outcomes.
Christine Edwards
NSA
Deputy Chief, Adaptive Cyber-Defense Systems Office, Laboratory for Advanced Cybersecurity Research
Dr. Edwards is an electrical and biomedical engineer, with over 28 years of experience within the Department of Defense where she has held a variety of developer, researcher, technical advisory, and leadership positions. Her research interests are focused on artificial intelligence and neuroscience, and their overlap, to create innovative solutions across multiple application domains, e.g. computer vision, and cybersecurity.
Maureen Falvella
NIH
NIH Deputy Chief Information Security Officer
Maureen Falvella oversees the Cybersecurity program at NIH. She develops strategies, directs operations, and oversees the budget to protect information assets. Maureen has a Master of Science in Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity Investigation and a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration.
Hsin Fang
NIST
Computer Scientist
Hsin is a computer scientist at NIST/OISM, where she works as a security analyst on system monitoring and protection. At NIST/ITL, Hsin has collaborated with IETF/ IPNG and IETF/NGTRAN on IPv6 standard and IPERF/XIWT on network traffic data collection and analysis, developed interoperability testing beds, and conducted tests for industry partners. Before joining NIST, Hsin worked in the area of system security for AIX and Mach Kernel, and design/develop The Integrated Reasoning System (TIRS) for expert systems at IBM.
Kimberly Ferguson-Walter
Laboratory for Advanced Cybersecurity Research, DOD
Kimberly’s research interests are focused on the intersection of computer security, artificial intelligence, and human behavior. Her research background includes cyber deception, reinforcement learning, transfer learning, and intelligent tutoring systems. She is a founding member of the cybersecurity technical group at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) and a representative to the NITRD Artificial Intelligence Interagency working group.
Kathleen Fisher
DARPA
Director, Information Innovation Office
Dr. Kathleen Fisher is the Director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office. She was the Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Tufts University and a principal member of the technical staff at AT&T Labs. Dr. Fisher is a Hertz Foundation fellow, an AAAS fellow, an ACM fellow, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Harvey Mudd College.
Stephanie Garcia
HHS
Branch Chief, Office of Technology, ONC for Health IT
Stephanie Garcia, Branch Chief in the Office of Technology the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, develops strategy for and oversees a portfolio of work that includes aligning the use of health IT across HHS and the advancement of standards-based approaches for health IT use in research.
Candice Gerstner
NSA
Applied Research Mathematician
Candice Gerstner is a technical leader with over 10 years experience in machine learning, applied mathematics, and computer vision. She leads multidisciplinary teams to develop approaches for Generative AI, Multimedia Forensics, and Authentication as Chair of the Multimedia Authentication Steering Committee. Candice earned her PhD from ODU in Mathematics.
Yulia R. Gel
NSF
Program Director, DMS and TIP
Yulia R. Gel is a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, Division of Mathematical Sciences. Prior to joining NSF, she was a Professor of Statistics at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research interests include statistical foundations of data science, topological and geometric methods in statistics and machine learning, inference for complex networks and spatio-temporal processes, in applications to risk analytics in environmental sciences, biosurveillance, power systems, and blockchains. She is currently on detail at the NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP).
Sharon Geva
NSF
Program Director, Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC), CISE Directorate
Sharon is a Program Director in the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure at NSF and the Co-Chair of the NITRD MAGIC group. As Program Director she provides program management expertise in the advanced computing and the cyberinfrastructure learning and workforce development areas as well as the research expansion program to broaden participation in computer information science and engineering.
Elena Ghanaim
NIH
Health Science Policy Analyst, NIH
Elena Ghanaim is a Policy Analyst for the Policy and Program Analysis Branch (PPAB) at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). She focuses on the NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy, health privacy regulations, and human research participant protection issues.
Nada Golmie
NIST
Chief, Wireless Networks Division, Communications Technology Laboratory
Nada is a computer scientist and research engineer leading projects related to modeling and evaluation of future-generation wireless systems and protocols, serving as a cochair for the 5G mmWave Channel Model Alliance heading, with extensive research experience and publications in media access control and protocols for wireless networks.
Cindy Orellana Good
DOT
Director, Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation
Cindy has been in the public sector for 15 years and has dedicated most of her time in helping organizations overcome challenges and identifying opportunities for growth. She is currently the Director at the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation, where she looks at new and emerging technologies to improve the productivity, quality of service, and accuracy of Federal financial management.
Susan Gregurick
NIH
Associate Director of Data Science
Susan K. Gregurick, Ph.D., was appointed Associate Director for Data Science and Director of the Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on September 16, 2019. Under Dr. Gregurick’s leadership, the ODSS leads the implementation of the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science through scientific, technical, and operational collaboration with the institutes, centers, and offices that comprise NIH.
Carol Hawk
DOE
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Cybersecurity for Energy Delivery Systems Program, Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, DOE/CESER
Carol is a high-energy physicist directing DOE R&D programs that promote resilience in the Nation’s energy delivery cyber infrastructure to enable critical operations to continue even in the presence of cyber attacks.
Thuc T. Hoang
DOE
Director, Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC), DOE/NNSA
Thuc manages the ASC High Performance Computing (HPC) systems’ research, development and operation activities, including the NNSA Exascale Computing Initiative, to provide advanced simulation capabilities for the NNSA Stockpile Stewardship mission.
Erin Jane Iturriaga
NIH
Program Officer/Clinical Trials Specialist
Erin is a Branch Chief for Health Research Development at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) with a research and regulatory background in biomedical, data, and nursing sciences and manages a diverse portfolio from basic science to transformative technology and large clinical that helped transform the use of technology. Her interests include technology development, treatment trials, mobile/digital trials, social determinants of health, and various data science/machine learning projects.
Young Ah Kim
DHS
Management & Program Analyst
Technology Modernization (TM) evaluating relevant and improved technologies that will further DHS OBIM’s mission. R&D efforts within the federal, state, local government, academia, international, and industry partners.
Padma Krishnaswamy
FCC
Senior Engineer, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC/OET
Padma is a senior engineer with the Office of Engineering and Technology at the FCC. She applies her electrical and systems engineering background, together with extensive experience gained in various Internet-related technical and program management roles in the private sector, towards contributing to the FCC’s mission. Her professional interests include the continuing evolution in network services and technologies, network architectures, measurements and characterization, secure and trustworthy networking, and network resilience.
Christine Lai
CISA
Cybersecurity R&D/AI Security Lead
Christine Lai is a cybersecurity/machine learning researcher and leads the AI security initiative at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Her focus is on leveraging future and emerging technology solutions to address challenging national security problems.
Alexandra (Sandy) Landsberg
DOD
Deputy Director, High Performance Computing Modernization Program
Sandy is an aerospace engineer who is a nationally recognized leader in computational modeling, algorithm development, simulation of complex physics-based applications, and software development for high performance computing.
Irina Leonova
FDIC
Corporate Expert
Irina is a Corporate expert at the FDIC specializing in financial data infrastructures, digital assets, distributed ledge technology and structured financial instruments. Among her recent projects is the establishment of the Global Legal Entity Identifier foundation as a tool to monitor global financial stability risks.
Naomi Lefkovitz
NIST
Senior Privacy Policy Advisor, NIST/ITL
Naomi is leading the team developing the NIST Privacy Framework, her work focuses on privacy and cybersecurity risk management and integrating solutions for protecting individuals’ privacy into information technologies, including digital identity services, Internet of Things, smart cities, big data, mobile and artificial intelligence.
Leslie Leonard
DOD
Computer Scientist, DOD
Leslie Leonard, a Computer Scientist at the U.S Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), serves as the Cybersecurity Research lead for the High Performance Computer Modernization Program’s (HPCMP) Security team. Dr. Leonard leads research and development for new technologies, tools, and techniques that enable the HPCMP to defend, mitigate, and secure five Defense Supercomputing Resource Centers and the Defense Research and Engineering Network.
Juan Jenny Li
NSF
Program Director, CISE-OAC
Dr. Juan Jenny Li is currently an IPA program director of NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure from Kean University (a Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution of New Jersey). She has been actively participating in NITRD activities related to her research on cyberinfrastructure supported AI advancement. She has published over 100 articles in peer reviewed book chapters, journals, and proceedings. She is a holder of 20 patents.
Asiyah Yu Lin
NIH, NIAID
Senior Data Scientist, Office of Data Science
Dr. Asiyah Yu Lin is a seasoned ontologist and data scientist trained in immunology, pediatrics, and medical informatics. Her career spans a range of medical research and technical roles at academic institutions, private start-ups, and in government. At the NIAID, Dr. Lin leads to the development of the NIAID Data Ecosystem and is involved in strategic planning on NIAID data science initiatives and trainings.
Kathleen B. Loftin
NASA
Center Chief Technologist, Kennedy Space Center
Loftin manages KSC’s research and technology projects, ensuring there the robust research and technology portfolio addresses the challenges of NASA’s mission. Loftin serves as the principal advisor to leadership and to the Agency’s Office of the Chief Technologist on matters concerning center-wide technology development and leverage. Loftin also serves as a change agent regarding the workforce’s capacity to innovate, and is responsible for documenting, demonstrating, and communicating the societal impact of KSC’s technology accomplishments.
Kathy Lyons-Burke
NRC
Senior Level Advisor for Information Security, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Kathy Lyons-Burke serves as the Senior Level Advisor for Information Security for the Office of the Chief Information Officer at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). During her 40 years of computer security experience, she has been an Associate Department Head in the Special Projects Department of the Center for Integrated Intelligence Systems at the MITRE Corporation before she joined NIST and then NRC.
Mekisha Marshall
National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office
Chief S&T Advisor, The Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Mekisha Marshall serves as the Chief Science and Technology (S&T) Advisor at the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO), which is the National Intelligence Manager advising the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on the maritime domain. She focuses primarily on countering new threats to US national security and new technologies promising to improve maritime security and marine conservation.
Melissa Midzor
NIST
Program Manager, National Advanced Spectrum and Communications Test Network (NASCTN), NIST/CTL
Melissa is a physicist working on complex spectrum sharing measurements between Commercial and Federal system. NASCTN is a multi-agency organization that provides trusted and validated data to accelerate the design and deployment of spectrum sharing technologies. She is the former Director for Electronic Warfare Integrated Laboratories (EWIL) at NAVAIR, Pt. Mugu CA.
Wendy J. Nilsen
NSF
Deputy Division Director, CISE/IIS
Wendy Nilsen is the Deputy Division Director in the Information and Intelligent Systems Division of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate at NSF. Previously, she was the lead Program Director in the Smart Health program. Her work focuses on the intersection of computing, especially artificial intelligence, and human functioning.
Diana Parzik
USAID
Information Disorder & Resilience Specialist
Diana Parzik is an Information Disorder & Resilience Specialist at USAID’s Center for Democracy, Human Rights and Governance, where she is helping to lead the agency’s efforts to address Mis- Dis- and Mal- information and the challenges around the rise of authoritarianism. She began her career with USAID in 2016 in the office of Civil Military Cooperation where she worked closely with the U.S. Africa Command.
Jessica Yoo Perry
DOE
Technical Program Manager, CESER
Jessica is a Technical Program Manager with 3 graduate degrees (Cybersecurity Risk and Strategy, MBA, Industrial Engineering) and post-military experience across cybersecurity policy, Research Development & Demonstration (RD&D), operations, and engineering in both private and public sectors. She is an honorably discharged military veteran and a 2024 graduate of the State Department’s National Security Executive Leadership Seminar. Jessica is a contributing author to the quadrennial NITRD 2023 Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan.
Kimberlee Potter
VA
Scientific Portfolio Manager for Restorative Medicine
Kimberlee Potter is the Scientific Review Officer for Surgery, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Endocrinology-Bone Merit Review panels and the Portfolio Manager of Restorative Medicine at the Office of Research and Development for the Veterans Affairs. Previously, Dr. Potter was at the National Institutes of Health where she developed novel techniques for the non-invasive assessment of engineered tissue constructs. She received her PhD from Cambridge University.
Kamie Roberts
NIST
Acting Deputy Director, ITL
Kamie is an Acting Deputy Director, Associate Director for Government and Industrial Liaison at Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Angela Robinson
NIST
Mathematician, Cryptographic Technology Group
Dr. Angela Robinson is a mathematician in NIST’s Cryptographic Technology Group. She participates in the NITRD efforts which relate to privacy-enhancing cryptography. In particular, she helped develop the National Strategy on Advancing Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and Analytics and is working on the update to the Privacy R&D National Strategy.
Suzanne Sloan
DOT
Principal Technical Advisor, Transportation Technology Policy
Suzanne Sloan is a principal technical advisor for transportation technology policy at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center. Ms. Sloan is recognized for her significant contributions to the adoption of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) including research on innovative technologies for surface transportation to support improvements in safety and system optimization. Key focus areas include ITS architecture, standards, and spectrum policy related to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications.
Merrill Smith
DOE
Senior Advisor, Office of Electricity, DOE
Merrill is an engineer working on DOE initiatives targeting smart grid technologies that will increase the resiliency and reliability of the power grid, including microgrids and related technologies, such as clean distributed energy generation, combined heat and power, renewables and advanced power systems.
Heidi Sofia
NIH
Program Director, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH/NHGRI
Heidi is a biochemist and computational biologist who manages NIH genomics, data science, and informatics portfolios, with interests in enabling technologies and next-generation standards for challenging problems in genomic biology and health, including secure data sharing with privacy.
Shani Spivak
NSC
Director for Emerging Technology and International Collaboration
Shani Spivak is serving as Director for Emerging Technology and International Collaboration at the National Security Council. Prior to joining the NSC, she was a technology advisor at the FBI, where she founded a Women in Tech advocacy group, and helped drive AI ethics and governance work. She has a background in electrical engineering and is a veteran of the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps.
Ann E. Stapleton
USDA
Senior Advisor for Agricultural Technology and Systems
Dr. Ann E. Stapleton is on detail as Senior Advisor for Agricultural Technology and Systems at the USDA Office of the Chief Scientist; she was previously National Program Leader in the USDA Institute of Food Production and Sustainability, Division of Plant Systems – Production, serving as the program director for NIFA-funded AI Institutes awards. Dr. Stapleton recently served as a National Science Foundation program officer in the EPSCoR office and co-led NSF’s data education and literacy team. She has more than ten years’ experience in development of cyberinfrastructure for biology and has published in computer science, statistics, and biology journals.
Ceren Susut
DOE
Associate Director of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Office of Science
Dr. Ceren Susut is the Associate Director of Science for Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) in the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC). ASCR is the nation’s leading supporter of fundamental research in applied mathematics, computer science and networking research and the steward of the world’s fastest high-end computing resources at ORNL, ANL, and LBNL.
Reva Schwartz
NIST
Deputy Associate Director, ITL, Office of Emerging Technology
Reva Schwartz is a research scientist and Principal Investigator on Bias in Artificial Intelligence for NIST’s Trustworthy and Responsible AI program. Her research focuses on evaluating AI system trustworthiness, studying AI system impacts, and driving understanding of socio-technical systems within computational environments.
Elham Tabassi
NIST
Acting Chief of Staff, Information Technology Laboratory, NIST/ITL
Elham is the acting chief of staff of the Information Technology Laboratory at NIST where she has worked in the past 20 years with a technical focus on computer vision, machine learning, and biometrics.
Ngwe Thawdar
AFRL
Electronics Engineeer, AFRL
Ngwe is an electrical engineer and researcher who has led diverse teams to design, implement and demonstrate cutting edge technologies in wireless communications and networking. She is currently the technical lead for AFRL’s Terahertz Communications portfolio.
Mary Theofanos
NIST
NIST Fellow
Mary Theofanos is a Computer Scientist and Sr. Technical Advisor with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Information Technology Laboratory where she performs research on usability and human factors of systems and most recently on diversity and inclusivity
Amy Walton
NSF
Program Director, Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Directorate for CISE, NSF
As Program Director at NSF’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, Amy Walton provides program management expertise in several areas critical to the future of advanced cyberinfrastructure and data science activities. She co-led NSF’s Harnessing the Data Revolution working group, led the development of the Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation program, and created the Data Infrastructure Building Blocks program.
Dana Wolff-Hughes
NIH
Program Officer, Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing & Institutional R&D Programs, NIH
Dana Wolff-Hughes, PhD, is a program director in the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). In this capacity, she supports work which validates and utilizes digital technology for cancer risk factor assessment in research and population surveillance.
Patricia Wolfhope
DHS
Senior Subject Matter Expert, DHS
Ms. Wolfhope manages and transitions digital forensic systems and is responsible for developing, testing, integrating, and delivering technical solutions to Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies.
Goli Yamini
NSF
AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, NSF
Goli Yamini is an AAAS S&T Policy Fellow in CISE, Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, at NSF. She works with the Smart and Connected Health program to address key health questions. Prior to her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences/Biophysics, Dr. Yamini was a fellow at the Laboratory of Neurogenetics at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in NIH.
Women in NITRD – Private Sector
Maxine D. Brown
University of Illinois Chicago
Former Director of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (retired)
Maxine D. Brown is a Former Director of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Illinois Chicago. EVL, an interdisciplinary research laboratory, applies “visual data science” solutions to problems of national and global importance. More specifically, EVL faculty, staff and students partner with international computer scientists and domain scientists – from academia, government laboratories, industry and non-profits – to work on research, development, technology transfer and training of advanced visualization, virtual-reality, collaboration and networked cyberinfrastructure.
Marcy Collinson
Oracle
Sr. Principal Global Strategic Partnerships, Oracle for Research
With an Anthropology degree, Marcy started her career in primatology and veterinary medicine. She transitioned to human nursing education, marketing, fundraising, events, and corporate relations. She was a Senior Programs Manager at AWS overseeing cloud management for higher education and scientific research. She now leads strategic partnerships for the Oracle for Research Team, where her passion for bridging research and technology for societal advancement can come to light.
Ewa Deelman
University of Southern California
Research Professor & Director, Science Automation Technologies
Ewa Deelman is a Research Professor at the University of Southern California Computer Science Department and the Research Director of the Science Automation Technologies at the USC Information Sciences Institute. The USC/ISI Science Automation Technologies group explores the interplay between automation and the management of scientific workflows that include resource provisioning and data management. Dr. Deelman pioneered workflow planning for computations executing in distributed environments.
Kjiersten Fagnan
LBNL
Chief Informatics Officer and Data Science and Informatics Leader, DOE Joint Genome Institute
Kjiersten is an applied mathematician who works at the interface of computing and biology. She leads interdisciplinary teams in the areas of laboratory information management systems, data management, workflow automation, and data accessibility.
Florence Hudson
FDHint
Founder and CEO
Florence Hudson is the founder and CEO of FDHint, where she consults in advanced technology, diversity, and inclusion. She is special advisor for the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence at Indiana University and the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub at Columbia University leading EU-US collaboration on Next Generation Internet. Florence is the editor of the book “Women Securing the Future with TIPPSS for IoT”.
Jessica Li
College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Bureau of Educational Research
Jessica Li is a professor of Human Resource Development at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, where she also serves as the Interim Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Bureau of Educational Research. She is also the Cross-Functional Lead, Education and Workplace Development, Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois System. She is the editor-in-chief of the journal Human Resource Development International.
Alison Derbenwick Miller
Oracle Corporation
Vice President, Oracle for Research
Alison has spent her career advancing STEM education and research, putting action behind Oracle’s commitment that all students deserve the opportunity to build computing skills. She grew Oracle Academy into the company’s flagship philanthropic education program that supports millions of students worldwide. Most recently, she launched Oracle for Research to build Oracle’s research product portfolio and democratize access to cloud technologies for researchers conducting important work that drives meaningful change.
Heidi Lee Morgan
University of Southern California
Senior Computer Scientist
Heidi MORGAN, Ph. D. is a Senior Computer Scientist in the Networking and Cybersecurity Division at USC-ISI. Dr. Morgan moved to ISI in 2016 from Florida International University where she was the Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Internet Augmented Research and Assessment. CIARA fosters a domain-specific tailoring of Internet technologies to support faculty research, and in the process improve graduate education.
Lavanya Ramakrishnan
LBNL
Staff Scientist, Computational Research Division
Lavanya is a computer scientist building software tools for computational and data-intensive science, especially for workflow, resource, and data management. More recently, she and her team have been using user research methodologies to complement technical insights with user and social perspectives to improve the design of computational tools and technologies.
Jennifer Schopf
University of Texas at Austin
Director, Networking Partnerships TACC
Dr. Jennifer Schopf has spent more than 25 years working to make it easier for researchers and scientists to share their data and use advanced cyberinfrastructure. In her current role, she works to ensure effective data transfers to enable collaborative science. Prior to this, she led International Networks at Indiana University (IN@IU), spent four years at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and held positions at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Globus and Argonne National Laboratory, and the UK National eScience Center.
Women in NITRD – NCO Staff
Jacqueline Altamirano
NCO/NITRD
Executive Assistant and Coordinator (contractor)
Jacqueline provides high-level executive support to the NCO Director and Deputy Director. She is the NCO administrative liaison to the White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate.
Caitlyn Blizzard
NCO/NITRD
Communications and Public Affairs Coordinator (contractor)
Caitlyn serves as the communications and public affairs coordinator for the NITRD national Coordination Office (NCO) where she spearheads the organization’s strategic communications including managing content development and internal and external messaging.
Nekeia Butler
NCO/NITRD
Executive Secretary (contractor)
Nekeia is an administrative professional, biologist, and writer providing executive support to the Federal agency members of the NITRD Program and high-ranking government officials and serving as liaison to the NSTC Executive Director.
Melissa Cornelius
NCO/NITRD
Technical Coordinator (contractor)
Melissa Cornelius is the Technical Project Coordinator for the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program. As Technical Project Coordinator, Ms. Cornelius provides subject matter expertise, meeting coordination, and facilitation, in support of the Interagency Working Groups, Computing-Enabled Networked Physical Systems (CNPS) and Software Productivity, Sustainability, and Quality (SPSQ).
Mallory Hinks
NCO/NITRD
Technical Coordinator (contractor)
Dr. Hinks is a Technical Coordinator for the NCO and the NITRD Program. She provides subject matter expertise, meeting coordination, and facilitation, in support of the Wireless Spectrum R&D and Large Scale Networking Interagency Working Groups.
Ji Hyun Lee
NCO/NITRD
Technical Coordinator (contractor)
Ji is an information management specialist and a former systems architect who has worked in topic areas including RF communications, information and tactical systems.
Virginia Moore
NCO/NITRD
Chief of Staff and Contract Program Manager (contractor)
Virginia manages the internal operations and the contract deliverables for NITRD National Coordinating Office.
Olachi Onyewu
NCO/NITRD
Technical Coordinator (contractor)
Olachi Onyewu is a Technical Coordinator for the NCO and the NITRD program. She provides subject matter expertise, meeting coordination and facilitation in support of the Digital Assets FTAC.
Ann Schwartz
NSCR
Program Director, NSCR
Dr. Ann Schwartz joins the NITRD NCO as the inaugural Program Director for the Pilot Office of the National Strategic Computing Reserve (NSCR).
Diane Theiss
NCO/NITRD
Financial Analyst and Deputy Chief of Staff (contractor)
Diane manages all areas of finance and operations for the NITRD NCO.
The National Coordination Office celebrates #WomenInNITRD to recognize the women who strengthen the Federal science and technology research organizations through their leadership, passion, and fortitude. This webpage is being launched as part of National Women’s History Month, which traces its origins back to women protesting for better working conditions in 1857, the advent of the International Women’s Day in 1909, and National Women’s History Week established by Congress in 1981 (P.L. No: 97-28) and expanded in 1987 (P.L. No: 100-9) to the month of March. On March 1, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed the 2019 Presidential Proclamation on Women’s History Month.
Standing on the shoulders of women of previous generations, women in NITRD have been able to overcome difficult cultural and social barriers to sit in the classroom and at the conference table, raise families, build careers, and provide senior-level leadership in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We offer this recognition and appreciation, knowing that girls of today will see women in NITRD as role models who worked hard and chose demanding fields of study and research to help improve our world.
Women’s History Month and Other Related Resources/References
- NITRD: Influential Women In STEM, 2020.
- NITRD: Influential Women in STEM: Insight, 2020.
- NITRD: Influential Women In STEM: Quotes, 2020.
- NITRD: Prominent Women Serving America, 2020.
- NITRD: National Women’s History Month: Women of the NITRD National Coordination Office, 2020.
- NITRD: National Women’s History Month: NITRD Looks Back at Outstanding Leaders, 2019.
- NITRD: National Women’s History Month: Women of the NITRD Interagency Working Groups, 2019.
- NITRD: National Women’s History Month: Women of the NITRD Subcommittee, 2019.
- DHS: Women of DHS Then & Now https://www.dhs.gov/blog/2018/03/05/women-dhs-then-now-celebrating-national-womens-history-month
- DOE: Women @ Energy: STEM Rising https://www.energy.gov/listings/women-energy-stem-rising
- DOI/USGS: A Snapshot of Women of the U.S. Geological Survey in STEM and Related Careers https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/cir1443
- NASA: Women of STEM https://www.nasa.gov/education/womenstem
- NIH: Women in Biomedical Careers https://womeninscience.nih.gov/
- NIST: Women’s History Month: NIST’s First Female Ph.D. (Edison was a fan!) https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2017/03/womens-history-month-nists-first-female-phd-edison-was-fan
- NSF: Pioneering women in STEM https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=134386
Page updated: March 1, 2024