Getting to know the research team
by mohsina yusuf
Research is one of the key pillars of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences. Without it, we would not have the global recognition we receive in the field of radiology. Our prestigious program has an equally prestigious group behind the scenes who make everything possible. Meet the research administrative team: six individuals with various skills, expertise, experiences, and backgrounds.
When asked what makes their team special, they all noted their team chemistry and differences in expertise that drive their work and success. Now, we get to know the person behind each role.
Dr. Elizabeth Krupinski, professor and vice chair for research, has been at Emory for five years after joining us from the University of Arizona. For Dr. Krupinski, the opportunity to move to a research-oriented institution was too exciting to turn down.
“Devoting the rest of my career to giving back, mentoring others, and serving as a resource to help others achieve their goals was and is a key motivation,” she shares.
Science and understanding the human brain drew Dr. Krupinski to her current profession in radiology. She’s fascinated by what motivates us, how we perceive the world, and what guides our actions. Being able to pursue those interests through the study of medical image perception and human factors has been ideal for her because it’s a practical and important application in patient care and the delivery of that care.
A typical day as a professor and vice chair for research includes tons of meetings and facilitating. She frequently interacts with faculty and trainees to develop, find funding for, and engage in research projects. She also finds time to carry out her own research in telemedicine and radiology.
Dr. Krupinski is currently assisting with telemedicine efforts during COVID. She is working with colleagues here at Emory and at other institutions to help figure out how to quickly ramp up telemedicine platforms, policies, and procedures to deliver essential healthcare remotely.
During her time off, she enjoys staying active outdoors by swimming, hiking, traveling, and gardening.
Kathy Vaughn, MBA is the manager of the research administration support team and senior financial analyst. She oversees the department’s research funding. This includes collaborating with the Cancer and Imaging Research Administration Services team to ensure compliance and management of proposed and awarded grants and contracts. She also works closely with Dr. Krupinski to implement and manage various financial, operational, and strategic projects related to the research mission.
She has been at Emory for more than 15 years and in Radiology for 5 years. The most rewarding part of her job is helping others. She enjoys providing financial information and recommendations that help others accomplish their goals.
“I enjoy working with a diverse group of individuals with expertise in various fields of knowledge and the opportunity to exchange ideas and perspectives,” says Kathy.
Kathy’s achievements stretch far beyond our department. She received the Emory University Award of Distinction, an honor given to staff members who have made outstanding contributions to the Emory Community.
When she’s not working, Kathy enjoys spending time with her family, reading, watching movies, traveling, and taking long walks on the beach and singing. She also enjoys spending time as the director of a children’s choir in Atlanta.
Mary David is a research project coordinator, a position she’s held for over 16 years. She was born and raised in Singapore and worked in Kuwait for a year before moving to New York. She lived there for 20 years and attended St. Johns University and DeVry University. She previously worked with the administrative team for the pediatric residency program at North Shore University Hospital and the administrative team for the Dialysis Center at North Shore Hospital before moving to Atlanta. She was hired in 2003 to work with Drs. Goodman and Votaw and has continued to work with the radiology administrative team.
Some of Mary’s favorite things about her job is working with spreadsheets, creating and managing access databases, and project coordination. She enjoys the university environment she has at Emory and finds it inspiring to be a part of research and medicine in addition to the other events and projects across campus.
When she’s not working, Mary enjoys gardening, traveling, spending time with family, reading, and playing games with her grandkids.
Donna Kilcullen has been at Emory since 1997. She was previously a chief of staff to a New York State Senator when she met Jim Madara who was then coming from Harvard to be the Chair of Pathology at Emory. He saw a connection between her Senate position and running the Chair’s office, so he hired Donna as his business manager and executive assistant to the chair for the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. She joined Emory Radiology in 2014 and is currently our senior research administrative coordinator.
For Donna, no day is ever the same, but she enjoys the change and variety. One minute she’s recruiting with Dr. Jon Nye for the Medical Physics Imaging Residency program, and the next she’s ordering research equipment for Drs. Mao and Goodman. Then she moves on to unraveling tricky finance problems and works with our researchers.
When she’s not working, she enjoys connecting with her family in New York and Connecticut, playing with her cats, going to the beach, reading crime novels, and learning about Irish culture.
Deborah DeWitt has been an administrative assistant with the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences since 2016. She previously supported the Chief of Cardiology, Director of the Catheterization Laboratory, Director of Clinical Electrophysiology and staff as the senior medical secretary at the Emory University School of Medicine and Veteran Affairs Medical Center for eight years where she managed the clinical trial submissions and yearly renewals.
Deborah’s day usually consists of checking her emails to see what needs to be completed, such as preparing expense reports, reimbursements, ordering supplies, maintaining records and invoices. At the end of the month, she prepares for the monthly E-Journal that details fees charged by Emory Healthcare and the radiology department.
One of her favorite things about being on the research team is the support and respect they have for each other. “We all have different personalities and skill sets that complement each other. We are team players,” she shares.
In her free time, Deborah likes to spend time with her family, listening to jazz, watching movies, attending concerts, playing games, taking trips with friends, and enjoying a cup of tea in peace and quiet.
Karen Wallace, research administrative assistant, has been at Emory for 18 years and has been in her current position for a year and half. Prior to relocating to Atlanta and joining Emory University in 2002, she worked as an executive assistant in the president’s office at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ. In December of 2018, she joined Emory Radiology in search for a department that rewards and recognizes hard work, as well as celebrates diversity.
A typical day for Karen includes interfacing with faculty and staff, collaborating with internal departments to resolve building issues, working on special projects, processing expense reports and invoices, organizing events, assisting faculty and staff with various projects, and sending IND reports to the FDA.
When asked what she wants everyone to know about the research administration team, Karen shared, “We are the dream team! Our team is diverse, and each member brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to table.”
When she’s not working, Karen enjoys spending time with her family, interior design, photography and gardening.
When asked what makes their team special, they all noted their team chemistry and differences in expertise that drive their work and success. Now, we get to know the person behind each role.
Dr. Elizabeth Krupinski, professor and vice chair for research, has been at Emory for five years after joining us from the University of Arizona. For Dr. Krupinski, the opportunity to move to a research-oriented institution was too exciting to turn down.
“Devoting the rest of my career to giving back, mentoring others, and serving as a resource to help others achieve their goals was and is a key motivation,” she shares.
Science and understanding the human brain drew Dr. Krupinski to her current profession in radiology. She’s fascinated by what motivates us, how we perceive the world, and what guides our actions. Being able to pursue those interests through the study of medical image perception and human factors has been ideal for her because it’s a practical and important application in patient care and the delivery of that care.
A typical day as a professor and vice chair for research includes tons of meetings and facilitating. She frequently interacts with faculty and trainees to develop, find funding for, and engage in research projects. She also finds time to carry out her own research in telemedicine and radiology.
Dr. Krupinski is currently assisting with telemedicine efforts during COVID. She is working with colleagues here at Emory and at other institutions to help figure out how to quickly ramp up telemedicine platforms, policies, and procedures to deliver essential healthcare remotely.
During her time off, she enjoys staying active outdoors by swimming, hiking, traveling, and gardening.
Kathy Vaughn, MBA is the manager of the research administration support team and senior financial analyst. She oversees the department’s research funding. This includes collaborating with the Cancer and Imaging Research Administration Services team to ensure compliance and management of proposed and awarded grants and contracts. She also works closely with Dr. Krupinski to implement and manage various financial, operational, and strategic projects related to the research mission.
She has been at Emory for more than 15 years and in Radiology for 5 years. The most rewarding part of her job is helping others. She enjoys providing financial information and recommendations that help others accomplish their goals.
“I enjoy working with a diverse group of individuals with expertise in various fields of knowledge and the opportunity to exchange ideas and perspectives,” says Kathy.
Kathy’s achievements stretch far beyond our department. She received the Emory University Award of Distinction, an honor given to staff members who have made outstanding contributions to the Emory Community.
When she’s not working, Kathy enjoys spending time with her family, reading, watching movies, traveling, and taking long walks on the beach and singing. She also enjoys spending time as the director of a children’s choir in Atlanta.
Mary David is a research project coordinator, a position she’s held for over 16 years. She was born and raised in Singapore and worked in Kuwait for a year before moving to New York. She lived there for 20 years and attended St. Johns University and DeVry University. She previously worked with the administrative team for the pediatric residency program at North Shore University Hospital and the administrative team for the Dialysis Center at North Shore Hospital before moving to Atlanta. She was hired in 2003 to work with Drs. Goodman and Votaw and has continued to work with the radiology administrative team.
Some of Mary’s favorite things about her job is working with spreadsheets, creating and managing access databases, and project coordination. She enjoys the university environment she has at Emory and finds it inspiring to be a part of research and medicine in addition to the other events and projects across campus.
When she’s not working, Mary enjoys gardening, traveling, spending time with family, reading, and playing games with her grandkids.
Donna Kilcullen has been at Emory since 1997. She was previously a chief of staff to a New York State Senator when she met Jim Madara who was then coming from Harvard to be the Chair of Pathology at Emory. He saw a connection between her Senate position and running the Chair’s office, so he hired Donna as his business manager and executive assistant to the chair for the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. She joined Emory Radiology in 2014 and is currently our senior research administrative coordinator.
For Donna, no day is ever the same, but she enjoys the change and variety. One minute she’s recruiting with Dr. Jon Nye for the Medical Physics Imaging Residency program, and the next she’s ordering research equipment for Drs. Mao and Goodman. Then she moves on to unraveling tricky finance problems and works with our researchers.
When she’s not working, she enjoys connecting with her family in New York and Connecticut, playing with her cats, going to the beach, reading crime novels, and learning about Irish culture.
Deborah DeWitt has been an administrative assistant with the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences since 2016. She previously supported the Chief of Cardiology, Director of the Catheterization Laboratory, Director of Clinical Electrophysiology and staff as the senior medical secretary at the Emory University School of Medicine and Veteran Affairs Medical Center for eight years where she managed the clinical trial submissions and yearly renewals.
Deborah’s day usually consists of checking her emails to see what needs to be completed, such as preparing expense reports, reimbursements, ordering supplies, maintaining records and invoices. At the end of the month, she prepares for the monthly E-Journal that details fees charged by Emory Healthcare and the radiology department.
One of her favorite things about being on the research team is the support and respect they have for each other. “We all have different personalities and skill sets that complement each other. We are team players,” she shares.
In her free time, Deborah likes to spend time with her family, listening to jazz, watching movies, attending concerts, playing games, taking trips with friends, and enjoying a cup of tea in peace and quiet.
Karen Wallace, research administrative assistant, has been at Emory for 18 years and has been in her current position for a year and half. Prior to relocating to Atlanta and joining Emory University in 2002, she worked as an executive assistant in the president’s office at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ. In December of 2018, she joined Emory Radiology in search for a department that rewards and recognizes hard work, as well as celebrates diversity.
A typical day for Karen includes interfacing with faculty and staff, collaborating with internal departments to resolve building issues, working on special projects, processing expense reports and invoices, organizing events, assisting faculty and staff with various projects, and sending IND reports to the FDA.
When asked what she wants everyone to know about the research administration team, Karen shared, “We are the dream team! Our team is diverse, and each member brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to table.”
When she’s not working, Karen enjoys spending time with her family, interior design, photography and gardening.