Research Administrators' Community of Practice
The mission of the Research Administrators' Community of Practice (RA COP) is to increase and disseminate research administration knowledge by developing and sharing best practices, building a collection of resources, innovating, and bringing together a vibrant community of administrators.
Created in 2020, this RA COP consists of a group of administrators, Division Managers, members from PCRAFT, and others interested in research administration who share the following principles:
● Fostering collaboration and innovation among pre- and post-award Research Administrators
● Building and aligning resources to reduce administrative burden
● Sharing knowledge and best practices to increase efficiency
● Celebrating and developing a diverse workforce of Research Administrators
RA COP Community Leads
The RA COP is pleased to announce that the Community Leads for 2024-2025 have been selected. Please welcome our new Community Lead Leighann Rawls and our returning Leads Brent Taylor and Jeanine Tsang! Our Community Leads will provide leadership and oversight to the RA COP so that we can achieve our mission of building a vibrant community of administrators in the Department of Pediatrics.
Brent Taylor (he/him/his)
Brent is a Senior Research Finance Manager in PCRAFT. He is based out of Denver, CO, and enjoys hiking, camping, and finding the newest food spots in the area.
His favorite thing about Research Administration is how no day is ever really the same and there are so many different ways to interpret a guideline for a particular scenario. It’s a great challenge that truly doesn’t ever get old.
Leighann Rawls (she/her/hers)
Leighann is a graduate of Louisiana State University, and has worked in Research Administration at various institutions in both pre and post award. She is currently the Pre-Award Research Administrator in Pediatric Cardiology, working closely with faculty and those interested in pursuing research! She's excited to be a part of the Research community here and learning more from each other!
Jeanine Tsang, CRA (she/her/hers)
Jeanine is a Finance and Research Administration Manager for the Divisions of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Pediatric Pulmonary, Asthma, and Sleep Medicine, and Pediatric Palliative Care Medicine. Jeanine is a Bay Area transplant. When she is not working, you can find her exploring the bay area, trying new restaurants, spending time with her family, and hopping around her pet bunny, Jelly. She enjoys assisting her faculty with their research endeavors and making a difference in Pediatrics research. Being a COP co-lead, she hopes to facilitate and strengthen research admin collaborations within the Division.
Past Events
Drop-in office hours for feedback on NIH Biosketches
NIH Biosketch Updates and Changes - January 20, 2022
NIH Other Support: Got Burning Questions? - March 30, 2022
Meet & Greets with RMG - May 2022
In-Person Research Administrators' Networking - June 14, 2022
Founding Members
To better support research administrators in the Department of Pediatrics, we launched a Research Administrators’ Community of Practice. A community of practice is a group of people who “share a concern or a passion of something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”
Founding members of the RA COP included individuals from Pediatrics Central Research Administration Finance Team (PCRAFT), Office of Pediatric Research Development (OPRD), and research administrators.
Interested in Joining?
Join our mailing list to stay up to date on COP meetings and events.
You can also connect with us on Slack! Search #peds-research-administration-community-of-practice in Slack to join.