Pitt Psychiatry Office of Grants and Contracts Staff Recognized by Pitt Health Sciences Research Administration
Please join us in congratulating Mark Howard, Samantha Stilson, Jennifer Reifsneider, and Liz Yute from the Department of Psychiatry Office of Grants and Contracts (OGC), who have been recognized by the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Research Administration Office.
Mark, Samantha, Liz, and Jennifer received the following awards at the Research Administration Day ceremony on October 15, 2024:
Innovator Award (Innovator Awards recognize individuals who develop efficient solutions to challenges in research administration.)
Mark Howard (Data Team Manager): Mark oversees the OGC’s IT infrastructure, programming, and process development. His tenure as data team manager has been underscored by the OGC’s substantial advances in data management, process improvement, and innovation. Under Mark’s leadership, the data team has built and implemented databases enabling robust tracking of grant submission and award management processes, faculty and staff salary and effort distribution history and change review and routing, and award closeout procedures.
Mark has also developed multiple automations that substantially improve efficiency, which have been presented at national conferences and served as a model for colleagues in other departments and universities.
Stand Out Performer Award (Stand Out Performer Awards are presented to individuals who consistently demonstrate exceptional performance in their high-impact contributions to the achievement of Departmental and Pitt Health Sciences goals.)
Samantha Stilson (Grants Specialist III) Samantha is invaluable to the Post-Award Team. She has been instrumental in building the team, particularly after the Covid-19-related shutdowns presented major hiring challenges. Samantha trains and mentors grants assistants, consistently takes initiative, and does an outstanding job managing the grants assigned to her.
Liz Yute (Lead Grants Specialist) Liz is a critical member of the Pre-Award Team, and known among her colleagues as a role model. She is involved in staff training and development, as well as process improvement and special projects for the office. In addition, her exceptional contributions include developing tools that have become an essential part of daily operations. Liz has recently helped increase the OGC’s prominence by presenting at national conferences.
Rising Star Award (Rising Star Awards recognize early-career individuals who consistently exceed expectations, are motivated to achieve top performance, take initiative to address challenges, and display a positive and service-oriented approach.)
Jennifer Reifsneider (Grants Specialist II): As a grants specialist who has been working with the OGC for less than a year, Jennifer is recognized for incorporating a valuable new perspective to OGC’s processes. Jennifer’s achievements include developing a Post-Award Grants Specialist Training Manual—which will benefit all future hires in the group—and identifying areas for improvement in multiple processes and systems, and, more broadly, raising morale and productivity at the OGC. Jennifer was recently awarded the Pat Buennemeyer Scholarship to help prospective Certified Research Administrators attend a Body of Knowledge review session in preparation for the CRA exam.
Congratulations and thank you for your contributions, Mark, Samantha, Liz, and Jennifer!