Who We Are

Chris joined the Office of Research Development in July 2017; she also assists Robert Calderbank in supporting development of research collaborations with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  She has been at Duke since 2007 and in research development since 2011.  From 2007-2011, she taught Freshman Writing in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program.  From 2011 to 2017, she served as Director of Research Opportunities for the Nicholas School of the Environment, where she gained experience with a variety of federal agencies (NSF, NIH, DOE, NASA, EPA, NOAA, DoD) and with foundation submissi

A member of the Office of Research Development since January 2016, Maile came to Duke after working with biotech startup companies to secure NIH funding (SBIR/STTR), managing and coordinating the grant proposal process.  She completed her postdoctoral training at the NIH/National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, NC, where she studied the molecular mechanisms of synaptic weakening and elimination in the developing brain.

Irina joined the office in August 2019. Previously, she was an Advanced Research Scientist/Statistician in the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina. Irina holds a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies and an M.S. in Human Development from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and a BS in Psychology from Moscow State University in Russia.

Martha joined the Office of Research Development in January 2016 as a Research Development Associate and was promoted to her current position in April 2019. Previously, she held a range of research positions in the Duke Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, including her most recent appointment as Associate Professor. Martha holds a PhD and MPH in nutrition from the UNC Chapel Hill and a BA in neuroscience from Oberlin College. Her research career has focused on nutritional determinants of late life depression and brain health.