Research Administration Leadership Team
The Office of Research Administration’s (ORA) primary purpose is to support Emory's research enterprise. ORA consists of multiple offices offering a range of expertise and specializations working together and partnering across the institution to facilitate research success. Our offices are categorized by their functions, which include sponsored programs and fiscal support, regulatory affairs, and operational support.
Led by Vice President Dr. Robert Nobles, this executive team provides strategic guidance and thought leadership for Research Administration.
Vice President for Research Administration
Robert Nobles
Vice President
Biography
Dr. Robert Nobles (DrPH, MPH) serves as the Vice President for Research Administration at Emory University. Within Emory Nobles leads the research administrative and compliance departments including Clinical Research, Environmental Health and Safety, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Institutional Review Board, Research Administration – IT, Research Administration Services, Research Compliance and Regulatory Affairs, Research Grants and Contracts, Sponsored Programs, Strategic Operations and Training and Technology Transfer with more than 450 team members providing outstanding services that catalyze research and operational excellence. Daily, Nobles and team are responsible for providing the foundation for the research growth that Emory continues to experience while pursuing discovery. As an example of scope, in fiscal year 2023, Emory received over $1 billion in total research funding awards. Emory researchers submitted 5000 proposals to sponsors totaling more than $1.7 billion in 2023.
As the Vice President for Research Administration, Nobles promotes Emory’s research growth through oversight and execution of a strategic direction and effective operations for research across Emory. Nobles works in tandem with senior leaders and faculty to ensure proactive, user-focused customer service; effective, metric-driven processes; and transparent communication, to further new and on-going research initiatives that comply with all regulatory requirements. Nobles also fosters the scholarly work of faculty, facilitates multidisciplinary initiatives, supports innovative technology-transfer and commercialization programs, and strives to increase funding support from all sources, while nurturing positive external relationships.
Nationally, Nobles serves as the Vice Chairperson on Board of Directors for Public Responsibility for Medicine & Research (PRIM&R), the Executive Committee for the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP), and a member of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advisory Committee for Business and Operations (Committee).
Prior to joining Emory University, Nobles served as the interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, (UTK) with a faculty appointment in the Department of Public Health within the College of Education, Health, & Human Sciences. While at UTK, Nobles led efforts and oversaw research growth and compliance activities related to a UTK's quest to become a top 25 public research institution. Nobles also served as a sub-investigator on more than 10 community- based research projects focusing on adolescent health, and chaired national and local committees focusing on enhancing research culture. Before UTK, Nobles served as the research compliance officer and public health faculty member at both Texas A&M University and the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. In the public sector, Nobles served as a public health prevention specialist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and as a program manager for the state of Florida’s Department of Public Health.
Nobles completed his Doctor of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston with a triple major that included health policy & management, epidemiology, and health economics; and he received his master's in Public Health specializing in epidemiology, and a bachelor's degree in molecular biology from Florida A&M University. Nobles is an avid educator and has taught on the collegiate level since 2001 in the areas of environmental biology, anatomy and physiology, public administration, health policy and management, health care finance, ethics, epidemiology, and responsible conduct of research.
Administrative Support
April Carswell
Chief of Staff
Contact Information
Email: alcarswell@emory.edu
Biography
April Carswell, Ph.D. joined the Office of Research Administration as Project Manager in April 2022 and was promoted to Chief of Staff in January 2025. April will serve as the Chief of Staff 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 works 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 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 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 completed her Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis in social and behavioral sciences. She received her master's in science specializing in epidemiology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN, and a bachelor's degree in biology from Lane College.
Stephanie Dennis
Executive Administrative Assistant
Contact Information
Email: steph.dennis@emory.edu
Phone: (404) 727-3889
Biography
Stephanie Dennis is the Executive Administrative Assistant to Robert Nobles, DrPH, MPH, Vice President for Research Administration at Emory University. She has been with the ORA division since 2019 and supports the VPRA in daily meetings, manages calendar, events, and administrative support. She dual reports to Katie Stores, Ph.D., CRA, the Senior Director of Operations.
Stephanie earned a Bachelor's in Psychology from Ashford University in 2010 and studied a Master's in Family Therapy from the University of Argosy in Atlanta, Georgia two years.
She began her tenure at Emory in 2008 as the Program Coordinator in the Undergraduate Department of Religion. In 2001, she worked for J.P. Morgan as the Sr. Administrative Assistant to the CFO and H.R. Manager in the Atlanta Headquarters for eight years.
Sponsored Programs and Fiscal Support
Office of Sponsored Programs
Holly Sommers
Associate Vice President
Contact Information
Email: hsomme2@emory.edu
Phone: 404-727-2507
Biography
Holly Sommers is an Assistant Vice President for Research Administration with primary responsibility for overseeing the operations and strategic direction of the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP).
Holly joined OSP in November 1999 and has remained with the office since. In her current role, Holly oversees the operations of the Office of Sponsored Programs, leading a team of 43 people who handle all sponsored funding for Emory University. This portfolio includes grants from all types of sponsors, including federal agencies and foundation sponsors; federal and state contracts, industry-funded clinical trials and research agreements, incoming subawards and subcontracts from other research partners, and associated activities.
During her time in OSP, Holly has seen a growth in Emory’s sponsored funding, from $205M in FY1999 to over $894M in FY2021. Prior to joining Emory, Holly worked as a Program Associate for the Conservation and Development Forum at the University of Florida.
Research Grants and Contracts
Edwin Bemmel
Associate Vice President
Contact Information
Email: ebemmel@emory.edu
Phone: (404) 251-1237
Biography
Edwin Bemmel is the Associate Vice President for Research Grants and Contracts (RGC). He is responsible for the oversight of the central administration of post award activities, including all award set up, post award administration, and award close out activities on sponsored awards.
Prior to joining Emory University, Edwin worked at University of Miami (UM), Geisinger Health System (GHS), and Florida Atlantic University (FAU). During his tenure at FAU, he also worked as an Associate Controller, overseeing Payroll, Accounts Payable, Property Management, and General Accounting for about six years.
Edwin earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership, Higher Education from FAU. There, he also received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Accounting, as well as a second bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems. Edwin is a Certified Public Accountant.
Office for Clinical Research
Robin Ginn
Associate Vice President
Contact Information
Email: rginn@emory.edu
Phone: 404-778-2977
Biography
Robin has more than twenty-five years of experience in clinical research operations, heavily focused on the regulatory environment, ranging from human research protections to research billing compliance. She is adept at managing positive outcomes in a rapidly changing landscape through development of strong, service-oriented teams and employment of continuous quality improvement concepts. She has proven success in process improvement and rebuilding underperforming departments.
Professional Experience:
Her most recent experience as the Associate Vice President in the Office for Clinical Research at Emory University encompasses the design and implementation of a centralized model for research billing compliance including the development of coverage analyses, budgets, and 100% bill review for all clinical trial participants. Robin developed a specialized team to streamline invoicing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and study account reconciliation based upon clinical research coordinators’ validation of patient visits. She and her teams were heavily involved in the Epic medical records/billing and OnCore CTMS implementations at Emory. Other job responsibilities include education for clinical research faculty and staff, including the development of a mandatory baseline course curriculum, and a team dedicated to registration and reporting for ClinicalTrials.gov compliance. Through collaboration and integration with Emory’s healthcare facilities, she facilitated the entry of clinically relevant research information in the electronic medical record to promote the safety of research participants. With the emergence of the Ebola health crisis, she developed a rapid response process to facilitate pre-award approvals and study start-up.
Robin has facilitated clinical research value stream analysis (VSA) and other process improvement activities, streamlining the clinical trials pre-award and post-award processes across Research Administration while improving customer service, increasing investigator satisfaction, enhancing patient safety, and ensuring compliance with institutional policies and federal regulations.
Prior to joining Emory University, Robin held the position of Executive Director of Research Informatics and Regulatory Affairs at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in Nashville, Tennessee for 15 years. Her responsibilities included regulatory compliance, administrative oversight, and fiscal accountability for the Institutional Review Board, HIPAA Privacy Board for Research, Human Subjects Radiation Committee, Radioactive Drug Research Committee, Clinical Research Compliance, Clinical Research Education, Research Participant Advocacy Program, Research Support Services, Clinical Trials Support Services, and Clinical Research IT. She assimilated Vanderbilt’s clinical research services into a streamlined network for investigators by unifying compartmentalized functions under a common, service-oriented institutional goal with process improvement, systems integration, and restructuring. She also integrated three underperforming departments into one operational unit entitled Grants and Contracts Management. She re-engineered three clinical trial offices into an integrated department embedded within the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center to overcome fiscal inefficiency, high staff turnover, lengthy turnaround times, and PI dissatisfaction. She has IT experience with the management of financial, patient management and clinical order entry software applications. Prior to Vanderbilt, she started her career as a critical care nurse and was quickly promoted to nursing management.
Education and Certifications:
- BSN in Nursing, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville and Carbondale, Illinois.
- MBA, Lindenwood University, St. Louis, Missouri.
- Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Corporate Compliance, George Washington University, Washington D.C.
- Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC).
- Certified in Healthcare Research Compliance (CHRC).
Office of Technology Transfer
Todd Sherer
Associate Vice President
Contact Information
Email: ttshere@emory.edu
Phone: (404) 727-5550
Biography
Todd leads a team of 25 focused on innovative, clinical and non-clinical, research partnerships and creating value in technology developed by Emory researchers. In 2005, he worked with colleagues to monetize downstream licensing revenues on an Emory-discovered molecule that is now part of the leading AIDS drug cocktail - resulting in a $540 million, one-time payment. Prior to joining Emory, Todd led the Technology and Research Collaborations office at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.
Todd is Past President for the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Southeast BIO (SEBIO). Todd is a Registered Patent Agent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is also a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) and a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP).
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Regulatory Affairs
Research Compliance and Regulatory Affairs
Deepika Bhatia
Associate Vice President
Contact Information
Email: dbsivak@emory.edu
Phone: 817-851-4954
Biography
Deepika brings a wealth of knowledge in the realm of university research compliance and regulatory oversight. She joined Emory in November 2021 after serving as Director of Research & Compliance at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center. Prior to her role as Director, she has held additional leadership roles at UT Southwestern, including Assistant Director of Compliance Strategic Initiatives and Assist Director of Research & Academic Compliance.
Deepika will lead ongoing needs assessments of Emory's research compliance infrastructure in coordination and collaboration key stakeholders across the university campus. She will manage all research compliance units including Conflicts of Interest (COI), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Research Integrity (ORIC), and Export Controls (EC), and will be accountable for the development and implementation of a proactive, comprehensive, and integrated compliance strategy that supports the success of Emory's entire academic research enterprise. She will work closely with school and unit leadership, the new Chief Compliance Officer, Office of Compliance, and Office of Internal Audit.
Deepika holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Communications Engineering from the University of Madras, India, and a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas Arlington.
Institutional Review Board
Rebecca Rousselle
Assistant Vice President
Contact Information
Email: rebecca.rousselle@emory.edu
Phone: 404-712-0785
Biography
Rebecca is the Assistant Vice President for the Human Research Protection Program. In this role, she works to lead the administrative staff and support the approximately 100 Committee members in achieving the IRB's mission, to facilitate ethical human research. Her work also involves collaboration with other Research Administration offices on projects aimed at improving service to researchers.
Rebecca came to Emory IRB in 2008 as a Team Lead, then became Assistant Director before becoming Director. Previously she worked with the Harvard Medical School, School of Public Health, and University's IRB's on projects that also leveraged her prior work as a programmer for a Naval contractor in Newport, RI. Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati and has been a Certified IRB Professional since 2015.
Environmental Health Safety Office
Scott Thomaston
Assistant Vice President
Contact Information
Email: scott.thomaston@emory.edu
Phone: 404-727-9510
Biography
Scott has over 36-years of experience as a health and safety professional and has served Emory University in the Environmental Health and Safety Office since its inception in 1989. This office provides comprehensive environmental health and safety services to Emory University and Emory Healthcare. Previous to serving Emory, Scott was an Industrial Hygiene Chemist with CIGNA Corporation, and an Environmental Scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from the University of Georgia and a Master of Public Health from the Emory Rollins School of Public Health.
Strategy and Operational Support
Strategic Optimization and Training
Lisa Wilson
Interim Assistant Vice President
Contact Information
Email: lisa.wilson@emory.edu
Phone: 678-766-9743
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 role as Interim Assistant Vice President of Strategic Optimization 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.