Developing the Infrastructure to Allow for More Patient Participation in Clinical Trials

Teri Grieb, PhD, is the Associate Dean for Research Strategy and Senior Director for Research Administration at the University of Michigan Medical School. In partnership with the Executive Vice Dean for Research and Chief Scientific Officer, she develops and implements strategic initiatives, leads enterprise change management, and fosters strategic collaborations and partnerships. As the chief business and administrative officer for the research mission, Dr Grieb is responsible for the operational and fiscal management of the Medical School Office of Research and its reporting units. She oversees central infrastructure, develops policy, and advises on procedural, operational, compliance, and fiscal issues for the research enterprise. Dr Grieb serves as a lead administrative liaison between the Medical School research enterprise and the institution.

Tesheia Johnson, MBA, MHS, is Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of YCCI and the Director for Clinical Research for Yale School of Medicine, where she provides leadership and direction in the area of clinical research. Her career has focused on the development of clinical research programs and support infrastructure. She is the co-founder, along with community leaders of the AME Zion Church and Junta for Progressive Action, of the Yale Cultural Ambassadors program, launched more than ten years ago with a mission to catalyze the sustainable advancement of patient diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical research. Prior to assuming her current position, she held positions as Assistant Dean for Clinical Research at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and Director of Clinical Trials at the University of Wisconsin Madison. She has served as a consultant for several academic centers interested in establishing clinical research programs and as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health.Ms Johnson is nationally recognized for her expertise in the design and setup of clinical research programs. She has been an invited speaker at many national and international conferences on topics such as developing funding for central support for clinical research, staffing models for clinical and translational research, training programs for research professionals, clinical research regulation, and contracting and budget negotiation. She has served as Chair and co-Chair for several National Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Consortium Group/Committees. She sits on the external scientific advisory boards for the CTSAs at Stanford University, NYU, Washington University, Rockefeller, the Universities of Buffalo, Colorado, Florida, Rochester and Washington and at University College London Hospitals’ Biomedical Research Centre. Ms Johnson also one of the team leaders chairing the, Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) on clinical trials diversity. She serves as the Yale Leader for the School of Medicine partnership with the FDA Office of Minority Health and Health Equity which also focuses on diverse participation in clinical research.

Brian Sevier is the Sr Associate Director of Research Operations for the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation at Yale University. He has been involved in academic research administration for over 20-years, and has previously led clinical research operations at the University of Florida’s Office of Clinical Research, UF Health Cancer Center, and the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. He is passionate about clinical and translational science workforce development and research operations.

After spending time in public health and clinical nutrition, Denise started work at Duke as a clinical research coordinator in 2000 for NIH funded trials in oncology. In 2009, her Research Management Team in the School of Nursing received support from Duke’s CTSA to leverage the group’s services and launch REDCap for the School of Medicine. For 10 years, Ms Synder has been the Associate Dean for Clinical Research for Duke University School of Medicine. In this role, she leads the Duke Office of Clinical Research (DOCR), a central support office of expertise in coverage analysis, study logistics, data management, regulatory oversight, workforce innovation, and guidance for clinical research operations for Duke as a site.