Research, Discovery, and Innovation Task Force
The Research, Discovery, and Innovation Task Force will focus on assessing the research lifecycle to identify and understand opportunities for integration that will yield increased research collaboration, propel new areas of research, and support the attainment of research recognition. The Research, Discovery, and Innovation Task Force will also focus on asset mapping and evaluating strengths of existing supporting infrastructure (e.g., processes, policies, roles & responsibilities, organizational units, technologies) at both institutions to make recommendations about infrastructure necessary to achieve the desired research outcomes as an integrated entity.
Task Force Updates
Update
Date
Research, Discovery & Innovation – March 2026
- Working Group Transition – The Research Operations, Research Finance, Commercialization & Innovation, and Faculty Experience working groups successfully transitioned from initial discovery efforts to the next phase of functional integration.
- Faculty Experience Working Group – Completed review of Health Research Challenge faculty submissions and finalized award selections.
- Research Analytics Working Group – Conducted a comprehensive inventory and gap assessment of existing research data sources, services, and infrastructure, and is expanding the unified KPI dashboard with four additional metrics.
Research, Discovery, and Innovation – January 2026
- Approved key financial and reporting decisions, including HERD Optimization (FY26), UTHSA/UTSA F&A base-year alignment, Blue Ridge consolidated reporting (FY25), and HERD consolidated reporting (FY26).
- Completed policy, program, and operational reviews across Commercialization & Innovation and Research Operations, validating shared campus pain points, aligning program direction, updating institutional data, implementing proposal templates, and completing a policy inventory, with recommendations moving into FIT working groups.
- Advanced faculty-focused initiatives, including the Health Research Challenge event, assessments of research faculty onboarding, promotion and tenure, and development, progress toward final recommendations and award selections, and the launch of the Research Analytics Working Group.
Research, Discovery, and Innovation – September 2025
- Launched early integration priorities, including a shared researcher database, topical interest groups, joint research centers, cluster hiring and the “Day 1” Research Integration Campaign.
- Established new working group (Research Analytics) and advanced existing ones in finance, operations, commercialization and faculty experience—laying the foundation for a more collaborative research enterprise.
- Task force members operationalized working groups, provided input to cluster-hiring opportunities, evaluated operational input of early win opportunities and challenges and developed a Day 1 Research Integration Communication Campaign Plan.
Task Force Team
Co-Chairs
Jennifer Sharpe Potter, PhD
Senior Vice President for Research
Health Campus
Heather Shipley, PhD
Provost and Senior Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Academic Campus
Members
Manzoor Bhat, PhD
Vice Dean for Research, Long School of Medicine
Eric Brey, PhD
Dean of the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Claudia Delgado
Associate Vice President, Research Administration
Kenneth M. Hargreaves, DDS, PhD
Dean, School of Dentistry
Jenny Hsieh, PhD
Professor and Chair, Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Director, Brain Health Consortium
Laurence Morel, PhD
Chair, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, Long School of Medicine
Jianwei Niu, PhD
Dean, University College
Vasan Ramachandran, MD
Dean, Marmion School of Public Health
Stephanie Santorico, PhD
Dean, College of Sciences
Jennifer Silver
Senior Director of Office of Sponsored Projects
Erica Sosa, PhD
Associate Dean for Research Success, College for Health, Community and Policy
Patrick Sung, DPhil
Director, Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute
Elena Volpi, MD, PhD
Director, Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies
Working Groups
Research Analytics Working Group
Leads
Gloria Salinas, MBA
Director, Office of Institutional Research
Health Campus
Khoi To
Assistant Vice Provost Institutional Research
Academic Campus
Completed Working Groups
These working groups have successfully completed their initial scope of work. Expected deliverables have been presented to the Research, Discovery, and Innovation Task Force to inform future integration efforts.
Commercialization and Innovation Working Group
The mission of the Commercialization and Innovation Working Group is to strengthen intellectual property (IP) and commercialization strategies by reviewing existing IP and revenue-sharing agreements, assessing potential patents and commercialization efforts affected during the first year of integration and identifying associated risks. Using data-driven forecasting, the group aims to uncover new opportunities for innovation and growth.
Leads
Anthony Francis
Associate Vice President for Innovation and Development
Health Campus
Members
Robert A. De Lorenzo
Vice Chair of Research, Department of Emergency Medicine
Robert A. Clark, MD
Assistant Vice President for Clinical Research
Nikolaos Gatsis, PhD
Associate Professor, Energy and Electrical Engineering, Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Lyle Hood, PhD
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Jean X. Jiang, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology
Stan McHardy, PhD
Associate Professor and Assistant Chair of Research, Medicinal Chemistry and Synthesis Core Director, College of Sciences
Rod McSherry
Associate Vice President for Innovation and Economic Development, Director, Institute for Economic Development
John Quarles, PhD
Professor, Computer Science, College of Sciences
Paul Rad, PhD
Associate Professor, Computer Science, College of Sciences
Lindsay Sanford, PhD
Director of Technology Commercialization
Micah C. Wright, PhD
Assistant Director of Impact and Innovation, School of Nursing
Daohong Zhou, MD
Co-Director of the Center for Innovative Drug Discovery
Faculty Experience Working Group
The mission of the Faculty Experience Working Group is to assess the current faculty experience—focusing on collaboration opportunities and early and mid-career development for investigators—and to develop a roadmap for fostering a supportive, engaging environment that promotes professional growth and research excellence following integration on September 1, 2025.
Leads
Sylvia Botros-Brey, MD
Professor, Department of Urology, Long School of Medicine
Health Campus
Siobhan Fleming, PhD
Interim Assistant Vice President for Faculty Research Development
Academic Campus
Members
Tracey Barnett, PhD
Chair, Department of Quantitative and Quality Health Sciences, School of Public Health
Rhonda BeLue, PhD
Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Partnerships, Professor, College for Health, Community and Policy
Sandeep Burma, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Long School of Medicine
Astrid Cardona, PhD
Department Chair and Professor, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, College of Sciences
Krystel Castillo, PhD
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Director, Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (TSERI), Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Saugata Datta, PhD
Department Chair and Professor, Earth and Planetary Science, College of Sciences
Katherine Dondanville, PsyD
Associate Professor/Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Long School of Medicine
Simon Gayther, PhD
Professor, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Long School of Medicine
Amir Karimi, PhD
Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Dhireesha Kudithipudi, PhD
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science; Director, Matrix AI Consortium, College of Sciences and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Kelly Nash, PhD
Vice Provost for Faculty Success
Sharon Nichols, PhD
Department Chair and Professor, Educational Psychology; Director, Urban Education Institute, College of Education and Human Development
Amelie Ramirez, DrPH
Chair, Department of Population Health Sciences, Long School of Medicine
Blake Rasmussen, PhD
Chair, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Long School of Medicine
Fernando Riosmena, PhD
Professor, Sociology and Demography, College for Health, Community and Policy
Claudia Satizabal, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences, Long School of Medicine
Kumar Sharma, MD
Chief, Division of Nephrology; Vice Chair for Research, Department of Medicine, Long School of Medicine
Lixin Song, PhD
Vice Dean for Research and Scholarship, School of Nursing
Elizabeth Sooby, PhD
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Physics and Astronomy; Director, Consortium on Nuclear Security Technologies Project, College of Sciences and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
David S. Weiss, PhD
Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Research Finance Working Group
The mission of the Research Finance Working Group is to assess the current state of research finance policies and procedures, evaluate future-state models, conduct a gap analysis and prepare business processes to support unified reporting for national research ranking programs. The group will also develop a strategic roadmap for integrating research finance activities.
Leads
Claudia Delgado
Associate Vice President, Research Administration
Health Campus
Greg Yturralde
Associate Vice President of Financial Affairs and Deputy Chief Financial Officer
Academic Campus
Members
Ginny Gomez-Leon
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Sheri Hardison
Vice President for Financial Affairs & Chief Financial Officer
Richard M. Nuttall
Vice Dean of Finance and Administration, Long School of Medicine
Jacqueline Ortiz
Director, Fiscal Administration & Business Service Center
Amber Sharp
Associate Vice President, Financial Planning Services
Kirstin Wilsey
Assistant Dean for Fiscal Administration, Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Research Operations Working Group
The mission of the Research Operations Working Group is to assess the current state of research administration policies and procedures, evaluate future-state models, conduct a comprehensive gap analysis and develop a strategic roadmap for integrating research operations in Phase 2 and beyond.
Leads
Claudia Delgado
Associate Vice President, Research Administration
Health Campus
Anson (Joo) Ong, PhD
Senior Director for Research Integrity and Infrastructure and Research Integrity Officer
Academic Campus
Members
Gabriela Ciocarlie, PhD
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Chris Combs, PhD
Associate Dean for Research, Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Melinda Cotten
Interim Senior Associate Vice President for Research Administration
Mai Dinh
Director of Finance Operations, Long School of Medicine
Chris Green
Assistant Vice President, Office of Sponsored Programs
Wendell Griffith, PhD
Director, Mass Spectrometry & Proteomics
Reuben S. Harris, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Leslie Neely, PhD
Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Assistant Dean for Transdisciplinary Research Development, Director, Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute, Associate Director, Brain Health Consortium
Shaun K. Olsen, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology
Susan S. Padalecki, PhD
Associate Director for Research Administration, Mays Cancer Center
Thomas F. Patterson, MD
Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Vice Chair, Faculty Development
Eric L. Shipp, PhD
Associate Director of Clinical Finance and Administration, Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Jennifer Silver
Senior Director of Office of Sponsored Projects
Brij B. Singh, PhD
Associate Dean for Research, School of Dentistry
Carmen R. Valdez, PhD
Associate Dean of Research and Partnerships, School of Public Health
Cynthia Villareal-Garcia
Director, Grant & Contracts, Financial Affairs Melinda Cotten, Interim Senior Associate Vice President, Research Administration
Rebeca Wong, PhD
Professor, Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies
Jason Yaeger, PhD
Senior Associate Dean for Research, Professor, Anthropology, College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Xiuhong "Helen" You, PhD
Associate Director and Senior Demographer, Texas Demographic Center (TDC)
Melanie M. Zuñiga-Rapp
Director of Research Administration and Quality