Office of Pediatric Research Development
We assist Department faculty and learners (instructors, postdocs, clinical fellows, etc.) in securing extramural funding for cutting-edge research. We support all types of proposals from fellowships, career development awards, individual research grants, and large center or training grants.
Workshops and Events
Our Mission
Lead Research Growth
We support the entire lifecycle of a proposal, including finding funding and critically evaluating drafts of proposals.
Train Future Scientists
We design, implement, and oversee research building activities to train the next generation of scientists.
Catalyze Research Teams
We catalyze team to ensure a vibrant and cutting-edge research community.
Innovate & Refine Processes
We innovate and refine operational systems and processes to reduce administrative burden for researchers.
Services Offered (To All Pediatrics Affiliates)
- Finding funding opportunities
- Editing and critically evaluating proposals
- Providing grantsmanship advice on text and figures
- Interpreting sponsor requirements and providing strategic advice
- Developing strategic plans and monitoring progress of proposal submissions
- Catalyzing teams and building partnerships
- Fostering innovation using competitive intelligence tools
- Providing educational resources, workshops, and one-on-one consultations
Meet The Team
Crystal Botham, PhD
Director of Research Development
Crystal’s passion for research development was ignited while writing a pre-doc AHA fellowship, which was funded. As a postdoc, she was a Tashia and John Morgridge Endowed Postdoctoral Fellow and also received a NIH F32. In 2019, she joined the Department of Pediatrics as its inaugural director of research development. Crystal is also the founder and director of the Stanford Biosciences Grant Writing Academy.
Justin Crest, PhD
Research Development Strategist and Grant Writer
Justin is an experienced research scientist with over 16 years of basic science research in cell and developmental biology. As a Damon Runyon fellow he established multiple collaborative and team-science approaches that received support from NIH, W.M. Keck, and NSF for these multi-disciplinary projects.
Within the Office of Pediatric Research Development, Justin facilitates:
- strategic research planning with investigators
- planning and submission of large and complex grants proposals (U, P, T32s, K12s, etc.)
- multidisciplinary collaborations and team science
- development of shared resources to support research pre-award activities
Vinita Bharat, PhD
Research Development Strategist and Grant Writer
Vinita Bharat, PhD is an experienced research scientist who has a deep interest and passion in research development and science communication. She has served as a Grant Coach at Grant Writing Academy at Stanford where she actively contributed to various research development activities like proposals and grant writing curriculums development, strategic research advancements, communicating research and research opportunities, establishing collaborations, etc. Along with her 12+ years of experience as a cellular and molecular neuroscientist, she runs an online science communication platform called Fuzzy Synapse to simplify complex scientific ideas and concepts in a fun and easy way with a pinch of humor. She is an acclaimed science communicator; her work has been featured in several international media releases. She aims to contribute to research development with the goals of increasing participation, engagement, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in STEM fields. In addition, she is committed to continuously improving application content and research capacity by providing comprehensive training to faculty and administrators.
Sarah Yeats Patrick, MA CRA
Pre-Award Manager
Sarah joined the Office of Pediatrics Research Development to implement strategies to reduce grant writing related administrative burden for faculty. Her focus includes ensuring high-quality pre-award support for our junior faculty, aiding in the submission of complex proposals, and mentoring other Research Administrators. Sarah will also be key in growing our new community of practice for research administrators (both pre- and post- award).
Previously, Sarah was at UCSF and the University of Nevada, Reno. She is also a Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC) Certified Research Administrator. She has a MA in Anthropology.
Susan Salkind, MA
Research Development Strategist and Grant Writer (Ped/Cardiology)
Susan Salkind is a research development (RD) strategist/grant writer in the Stanford School of Medicine’s Office of Pediatric RD, serving the Pediatric Cardiology Division. Previously a member of Stanford’s cross-campus RD taskforce, she serves as a committee lead for the "Excellence in RD" initiative within the university’s RD Community of Practice, and as a staff affiliate at Stanford Data Science institute’s Center for Open and Reproducible Science. She served formerly as assistant director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science & Technology (LST) and its constituent center, CodeX – The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, where she was also a fellow, contributing to the center’s focus on building technology to increase access to public and private governance systems. While there, she co-led an effort with faculty to revive a focal research theme, which helped yield substantial funding; spearheaded strategic alliances with new initiatives within Stanford Engineering, helping to secure donor funding to launch a pioneering lab; made critical contributions to the development and implementation of corporate affiliate programs; collaborated on proposals and budgets for sponsored research; worked with multidisciplinary early career investigators to develop strategies to fund their ongoing work; and provided substantial commentary and revisions for book chapters, research proposals, presentation decks, and discussion papers. Susan holds a Master of Arts & Teaching in English and a bachelor’s in English from the University of California, Berkeley.