Evangeline J. Downie
Leader, Research Administration POD 1
Evie joined GWU in 2012 as an Assistant Professor of experimental nuclear physics and began serving as an Associate Dean in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences in 2016. She became the leader of POD 1 when it was created in 2020. Evie is still actively engaged in her experiments to study the structure and function of protons and neutrons, doing night shifts on her experiment in Switzerland so she can actively support research administration through the day. She finds working to solve problems and assist PIs, in collaboration with the talented research staff at GW, incredibly rewarding, and considers it a privilege to support the impactful work and the wonderful community of students, staff, and faculty in the POD 1 portfolio.
Juliana Smith
Manager, Research Programs
Juliana Smith has been with GW since 2017 and has been in research administration for over 25 years. She enjoys spending time with her husband, three daughters, and seven grandchildren. She also loves gardening, baking homemade bread, dancing, and practicing yoga. Juliana recognizes how special research administration is at GW and especially loves the camaraderie of the POD 1 team and the GW research community as a whole.
Abdiel Castillo-Reyes
Supervisor, Research Programs
Abdiel has been part of the GW family since 2019 and has served in various research compliance and administration roles. Abdiel offers a unique combination of skills and leadership talents gained over 15 years of experience. He has been a powerful force within our GW Research community and uses his positive attitude and energy to encourage others to continuously navigate the ever-evolving topic of research administration. In his free time, Abdiel likes to be around his family and close friends, play saxophone, and play games with his two-year-old niece.
Jessica Harb
Supervisor, Research Programs
Jessica began working at GW in November of 2015 and began her current position as the POD 1 Supervisor for the Pre-award team in November 2024. When Jessica is not wrangling and keeping up with her pre-schooler, she enjoys reading, hiking, yoga and pilates. She currently lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and has moved coast-to-coast through the US with her husband as a military spouse. Her original background was working within the research field; but, after she married her husband, she realized that she needed a more flexible and mobile career path and found research administration. The constant changing environment while continuing to work in academia has been what drives her to stay in this field.
Ja'net Burke
School Research Administrator
Ja'net Burke has 20 years of research admin experience, 10 years at GMU in the Office of Sponsored Projects and 10 years at GWU as a SRA. Her portfolio exposes her to diverse research topics and keeps the work interesting and mentally engaging. When not at work, Ja'net enjoys spending time with family and friends, attending outdoor concerts, building legos sets and learning how to roller skate. What Ja'net enjoys about research administration is the feeling that she is a part of the engine behind groundbreaking research. Every project can present a new puzzle to solve, which allows Ja'net to constantly learn, untangle and interpret complicated new regulations, sponsor guidelines and/or institutional policies.
Tyler Cone
School Research Administrator
Tyler has been at GW since December 2023. Prior to joining GW Tyler worked at the University of Georgia's sponsored projects office. In Tyler's free time he helps operate jumpy houses and mechanical bulls for his family business. Tyler enjoys research administration because every day you will work on something different and you never know what you will see next.
Emily Gates
School Research Administrator
Emily has been at GW since October 2018 after graduating from BYU with a degree in Tourism Studies and Portuguese. In her free time she enjoys watching movies, spending time with family and friends in the area, and trying new restaurants! She loves when she is able to help PIs feel calm and prepared throughout the proposal process.
Candace Gibson
School Research Administrator
Candace began her journey at GW in 2021 as an administrative assistant in CCAS Undergraduate Student Services and became a School Research Administrator in POD 1 in July 2022. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Trinity Washington University. Prior to GW, Candace worked at a veteran service organization, supporting our nation's heroes in the community. Candace enjoys research administration, as it allows her to explore innovative projects that advance science and benefit many people.
Vinnie Mitchell
School Research Administrator
Vinnie started with GW in 2014 at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development
(GSEHD) supporting faculty with federal and non-federal sponsored research. Before coming to GW, she was Project Coordinator at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) managing NIH funded clinical research grants for the Department of Infectious Disease. When not in front of her computer, she enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with family and friends. Vinnie enjoys research administration at GW because she feels that she is always learning something new. Her portfolio is a mixture of different funding sources and sponsors, so there’s always an opportunity to encounter new challenges. In Vinnie’s experience, there is never a dull moment being a post-award SRA!
Gabrielle Oliver
School Research Administrator
Gabrielle holds a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S.Ed. in Youth and Social Innovation from the University of Virginia. She began her position as a School Research Administrator at The George Washington University six months ago, and it has truly been a rewarding experience. One of the most fulfilling parts of Gabrielle’s role is assisting Principal Investigators in navigating the administrative parts of their proposals, and she is excited to serve as a resource in any way she can. A fun fact about Gabrielle is that she is a lover of literature and spends the majority of her free time reading.
Gary Reynolds
School Research Administrator
Gary Reynolds has been an employee of The George Washington University for the last 35 years. He has worn many different hats during that time. Everything from the Budget office, to Auxiliary Services to Research Administration. What he loves most about his current position is being a facilitator for the faculty members and their students. He enjoys the diverse nature of both the work and the people he works with here at GWU. On a personal note, he has been married for 30 years now and has two grown sons and two dogs.
Leila Riazi
School Research Administrator
Leila Riazi graduated from the University of Maryland with a BA in Government and Politics/International Relations and a minor in French. Most of her professional experience has involved managing USAID projects across various regions and practice areas, with a particular focus on Francophone Africa. Career highlights include traveling to Cotonou, Benin, and Skopje, North Macedonia, to collaborate directly with field teams. Outside of work, Leila is an animal lover and she spends most of her free time with her horses.
Anjali "Mickey" Satija
School Research Administrator
Mickey began her journey at GW in the Office of Sponsored Programs on the Award Setup Team. After gaining valuable experience there, she transitioned to POD 1 as a Pre-Award SRA. Prior to this, she spent 10 years working in Pre-Award at George Mason University. In her younger years, Mickey briefly played the cello in grade school. However, the challenge of carrying it back and forth to school led her to shift her aspirations away from a music career. Working in Research Administration has provided Mickey with the incredible opportunity to connect with outstanding faculty engaged in meaningful research for the greater good. She’s found that a shared appreciation for their important work is a common thread among most Research Administrators.
Mitsuyo Sato
School Research Administrator
Before joining POD1 in 2022, Mitsuyo had the pleasure of working in EALL/CCAS for 15 years and then in the Global Research Center of the Gelman Library for 7 years. As a research administrator, she enjoys working closely with relevant departments behind the scenes to understand and be part of the mechanism to create a strong foundation that promotes and supports GW’s research activities.
Alice Seltzer
School Research Administrator
Alice Seltzer is a post-award SRA. Alice has been with POD 1 since 2022 and began her career at GW in 2018. She holds a BA from Bard College (2015) and an MA in English from GW (2020), and now lives with her wife on a farm in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Alice is proud to support GW's diverse, innovative, and growing research community. It makes her day when a PI shares with her what inspires them to pursue their research.
Kristina Short
School Research Administrator
Kristina began her GWU career as Finance Administrator for the Department of Anthropology before joining the newly established CCAS Research Administration team in 2015. Since then, as Research Program Manager, she has provided both pre- and post-award support for GWU faculty, staff, and students and enjoys working closely with investigators to successfully take research projects from inception to implementation. In her free time, Kristina enjoys visiting DC-area parks with her Labrador Retriever/Hound mix, Maximus, playing weekly TTRPGs with long-time friends, and, recently, has taken up boxing.
Kayla R.S. Thompson
School Research Administrator
Kayla joined the GW community as a POD 1 Pre-Award School Research Administrator in the summer of 2022, exploring a new career path. She likes cooking vegan meals, creating art through photographs and playing spades! She enjoys keeping researchers on track with their applications through planning meetings, resourceful checklists and friendly reminders. Kayla finds it very rewarding to hear how her support impacted their productivity.
