CMVM Research Office

Our aim is to support the CMVM research community to deliver the best outcomes, always exercising integrity, inclusion, respect and transparency.

Each team member has their own areas of focus to support College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (CMVM) research, as described below.  Please contact us to find out more or if you think we can help you with something.

Jennifer Cusiter – Head of CMVM Research & Innovation Operations

Jen is the Head of CMVM Research & Innovation Operations and works with a variety of CMVM stakeholders to develop and implement approaches that enable CMVM researchers to undertake world-leading research at the highest levels of integrity and ethics.

She helps to coordinate CMVM research portfolio development; is a member of the University Research Strategy Group and Research Support Operational Executive; and also coordinates the CMVM Research Committee. Jen works closely with the CMVM research managers, providing expertise on the funding landscape and relevant opportunities. Jen is strategic administrative lead for CMVM involvement in REF2029 activities.

She is a member of the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA).

Jen's personal profile

Sarah Atkins – Research Ethics & Integrity Administrator

Sarah provides administrative support to CMVM Medical School and Research Office with research ethics processes, including the triaging of application forms and sending applications for review. She is the main point of contact for the Edinburgh Medical School Research Ethics Committee (EMREC), handling applications and general enquiries, and provides secretarial support such as organising committee meetings, compiling reports for audit and maintaining membership records.

She liaises with other University RECs, the Research Governance office, Data Protection office, Edinburgh Research Office and other research governance and sponsorship bodies to support researchers applying for ethics approval.

Sarah's personal profile

Ismar Haga – Strategic Research Coordinator

Ismar is the CMVM Research Office Lead for our clinical research portfolio. He coordinates the Clinical Trials Oversight Group, which supports locally sponsored clinical trials and ensures the academic and financial sustainability of the clinical trials pipeline. The group includes representatives of the Academic and Clinical Central Office for Research and Development (ACCORD), CMVM Research Office, Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility (CRF), Edinburgh Clinical Trials Unit (ECTU), and Edinburgh Research Office (ERO).

He is also the Administrative Lead of the CMVM Core Facilities Group, which congregates facility managers and technologists across the college to coordinate, share information and best practices, and identify and address common issues.

Alongside Lena, Ismar is involved in the implementation of the CMVM Impact Strategy and in the overall promotion of an impact culture across the college. He is also compiling and developing impact case studies for REF2029.

Ismar is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and member of the University of Edinburgh Staff Pride Network, the Microbiology Society and ARMA.

Ismar's personal profile

Al Innes (he/him) – Research Development Manager  

Al leads initiatives to advance interdisciplinary, complex and catalytic research. He leads on development activity for the Climate and Environment mission area of the Research and Innovation Strategy 2030 and is a member of the Scottish Arctic Network (ScAN) and the John Rae Society.

Lorraine Jackson – Research Support Officer

Lorraine coordinates funds and initiatives to support CMVM researchers including the MRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), an Institutional fund to progress early stage translational work to a point where the project is competitive for further substantive funding or industrial partnership.  She also co-manages the Edinburgh Career Development Scheme (ECDS) which aids postdocs career progression by providing additional and ring-fenced time to develop and submit Fellowship applications.

Lorraine supports and drives initiatives arising from several College committees and work streams including the Research Staff Committee; the Edinburgh Scientific Academic Track (ESAT) programme; Future Medicine; the Innovation and Engagement Committee and the UoE Concordat Implementation Group.  Lorraine is assisting with the Clinical Medicine return for REF2029.

She is a member of the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA)

Lorraine's personal profile

Anna Krzak – Research Information Manager & Open Research Coordinator

Anna is the CMVM strategic administrative lead for Open Research with a particular focus on driving good research culture, working alongside other key College and University stakeholders. 

She drives the implementation and evaluation of a number of Open Access (OA) policies within CMVM, including the REF and funders' OA policies, whilst leading a large CMVM OA support network. This involves providing specialist advice on regulatory and policy frameworks to both academic and professional services staff, monitoring risks and employing relevant response, as well as developing and implementing new approaches, guidelines and workflows. 

Together with Lorraine, Anna also provides support for the Edinburgh Scientific Academic Track (ESAT) programme. She was involved in the REF2021 submission and sat on the University’s REF Advisory Group and the Responsible Research Metrics Working Group.

Anna is an active member of the Research Cultures Working Group which works on behalf of the Research Strategy Group to establish policies and mechanisms to promote positive research cultures at the University of Edinburgh.

Anna is co-Chair of the University's Research Outputs Network (RON) and organiser of the Research Culture forum for the Research Managers. She is also an active member of the Pure User Group and ARMA.

Anna's personal profile

Lena Lorenz – CMVM Research Impact Manager

Lena is one of three University of Edinburgh Research Impact Managers within the Edinburgh Research Office Engagement and Impact team. She is responsible for driving the development of a CMVM Research Impact Strategy to effect structural and cultural change and to support researchers to maximise their research impact. She is working with research managers, academics and clinicians across the College to identify research with societal impact. 

Lena is organiser of the lunchtime biography series of the Edinburgh Race Equality Network, and member of the Research Impact Network and ARMA.

Lena’s personal profile

Ellen MacRae – Research Development Officer (Global Health)

Ellen is working to provide strategic support for the College’s Global Health research portfolio which consists of over 160 active projects across the world (see the Global Health map). Her work involves supporting researchers embedding equitable partnership practices, and identifying collaboration and development opportunities across the University and with our research partners. Ellen is responsible for strategic project management, research opportunities dissemination, and relevant funding oversight (including the International Science Partnership Fund).

Ellen also provides additional support for the College’s international research ambitions and is the Local Liaison Officer for the Eurolife Network of European Universities in Life Sciences.

Andrew McBride – MRC IAA Programme Manager

Andrew is responsible for the management of the CMVM MRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) fund.  This fund supports early translation of biomedical and interdisciplinary research to initiate the development of new innovations in healthcare and wellbeing.  He manages funding calls and activities with the aim of both widening researcher participation and the diversity of translational opportunities that are competitive for onward development and investment.  Andrew supports researchers in developing funding proposals, project plans and collaborative links with key expertise and capabilities including industrial, clinical and regulatory partners.  He manages the portfolio of live projects, providing ongoing project management support to maximise innovative and impactful outcomes from our translational research community. 

The MRC IAA Programme Manager is a part-time role with Andrew spending the remainder of his time in the role of Entrepreneur in Residence with Edinburgh Innovations.  This provides a key linkage in translational activity between CMVM and Edinburgh Innovations.

Andrew's personal profile 

Róisín McKelvey – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Officer

Róisín works closely with the College EDI Leads and coordinates College-level EDI projects and also engages with local EDI teams across the CMVM Deaneries.

Róisín’s role addresses both policy and practice; she supports the ongoing strategic development and implementation of the College EDI Action Plan, and the delivery of EDI initiatives for staff and students. As a member of the CMVM EDI Committee, she fulfils organisational responsibilities, monitors Committee actions and facilitates short-term task-groups addressing specific EDI issues at the University.

Her responsibilities within the College Research Office include collaborative projects with CRO colleagues that aim to integrate inclusive practice into demand management, Early Career Researcher development activities, and Research Culture initiatives. Róisín also provides bespoke EDI guidance to researchers completing funding application processes, ranging from individual bridging funding, Fellowships, and large bids from College research groups. She additionally consults on College Impact Fund cycles and supports researchers in developing inclusive research design and practice. 

Community building is a highly valued aspect of Róisín’s work, and so she is embedded within wider, interdisciplinary EDI networks at the University. In addition to collaborating with EDI colleagues across Colleges, Information Services and Corporate Services Groups, she is a member of the University Race Equality and Anti-Racist Sub-committee and is the CMVM representative on the University’s LGBT+ Equality Sub-committee. She is also an active member of staff networks such as the Staff Pride Network, the Research Cultures Forum and the BioQuarter EDI and Pride Committees, and is the Network Liaison for the Edinburgh Race Equality Network.

Kim Moran-Jones – Senior Strategic Research Coordinator

Kim provides strategic support for research governance (ethics, integrity, and culture) ensuring that researchers within the college can undertake their research in an environment which supports the highest levels of integrity and ethical consideration.  She helps to co-ordinate impact case studies and outputs for UoA1 in REF2029.

Kim’s personal profile

Alíz Owolabi – Research Support Officer (Funding)

Alíz is the CMVM lead for demand management; she works with Edinburgh Research Office (ERO) and the College Research Offices to coordinate internal selection panels for grant proposals, to which funders only accept a restricted number of applications per institution. She ensures that the principles of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are embedded into these processes and has ran several University- and nation-wide workshops on integrating inclusivity into a variety of research management practices.

Alíz is also responsible for identifying and tracking Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience impact case study prospects for the Research Excellence Framework 2029. She chairs the CMVM Strategic Opportunities Group, which works on identifying competitive funding bids and disseminating these effectively to CMVM researchers. Alíz established and maintains the CMVM Research Office’s SharePoint site (University login required), and looks after the CMVM Research Office’s shared inbox.

She is a member of ARMA.

Shay Redgate – Research Information Administrator

Shay is responsible for maintenance and quality control of CMVM’s research output records in Pure, the University’s Current Research Information System (CRIS), to support access to and discovery of CMVM research, and ensure compliance with funder and REF open access requirements and the University’s publications policy.

Shay is the college’s main point of contact for administrative queries regarding open access processes, including compliance with open access policies, and works with Centre administrative staff to provide timely open access to CMVM-authored research.

Shay's personal profile