Leadership & Advisory Groups
Advisory Groups
Our Community Advisory Board helps us identify and prioritize regional health issues and funding decisions based on board members’ expertise and knowledge of community needs. Along with our Steering Committee, which is our network's primary governing body, we receive essential guidance from external and internal advisory committees.
The steering committee meets quarterly on topics of interest and to participate in decision-making related to policies and procedures, pilot grant and scholar programs, and events such as the annual scientific meeting.Voting Members:
- Principal investigator
- Senior associate dean for research, UNMC
- Program administrator
- Core directors
- Community Advisory Board representative
- Participating institutions' institutional coordinators
- Project coordinator appointed by National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Non-voting Members:
- DaCCoTA CTR representative
- UNeMed chief executive
- Practice-Based Research Network representative
The core operations subgroup ensures our network is on-track to meet milestones. Its members:
- Principal investigator
- Program administrator
- Core directors
Administrative Core
Matthew Rizzo, MD, FAAN, FANA
Frances & Edgar Reynolds Chair, UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences
Professor, UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences
Principal Investigator, Director, Great Plains IDeA-CTR
Director of Neuroscience Services, Nebraska Medicine
402-559-8600
402-559-9510
Howard Fox, MD, PhD
Professor, UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences
Senior Associate Dean of Research and Development, UNMC College of Medicine
Director, Center for Integrative and Translational Neuroscience
Co-Investigator, Co-Director, Great Plains IDeA-CTR
Biomedical Informatics & Cyberinfrastructure Core
Ellen Kerns, PhD, MPH, CPH
Director of Research Informatics, Child Health Research Institute
Director of Biomedical Informatics & Cyberinfrastructure Core, Great Plains IDeA-CTR
Deputy Director of Data Navigation, Research Education Administration and Development in Health Informatics (READI) Core
Data Scientist, Division of Care Transformation
Assistant Professor, UNMC Division of Health System Sciences
Jerrod Anzalone, PhD
Assistant Professor
Co-Director, Great Plains IDeA-CTR Biomedical Informatics & Cyberinfrastructure Core
Elizabeth Reisher, MS
Data Access Specialist
Coordinator, Great Plains IDeA-CTR Biomedical Informatics & Cyberinfrastructure Core
Biostatistics & Epidemiology Research Design Core
Ying Zhang, PhD
Chair, Professor, UNMC College of Public Health Department of Biostatistics
Director, Great Plains IDeA-CTR Biostatistics & Epidemiology Research Design Core
Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, PhD
Tim Hawks Chair in Cancer Prevention and Population Science
Professor, UNMC College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology
Associate Director, Community Outreach & Engagement, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
Research Director, Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska
Co-Director, Great Plains IDeA-CTR Biostatistics & Epidemiology Research Design Core
Full Member, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
Fang Yu, PhD
Professor, UNMC College of Public Health Department of Biostatistics
Director, UNMC Center for Collaboration on Research Design and Analysis
Co-Director, Great Plains IDeA-CTR Biostatistics & Epidemiology Research Design Core
Elizabeth Reisher, MS
Data Access Specialist
Coordinator, Great Plains IDeA-CTR Biostatistics & Epidemiology Research Design Core
Community Engagement and Outreach Core
Emily Frankel, MPH
Program Manager
Co-Director, Great Plains IDeA-CTR Community Engagement Core
Pilot Projects Program
Sarah A. Holstein, MD, PhD
Neumann M. and Mildred E. Harris Professor
Professor, UNMC Division of Oncology & Hematology
Director, Pilot Projects Program, Great Plains IDeA-CTR
Professional Development Core
Ted R. Mikuls, MD, MSPH
Stokes-Shackleford Professor of Rheumatology
Professor, Division of Rheumatology
Director, Professional Development Core, Great Plains IDeA-CTR
Tracking & Evaluation Core
Nishank Varshney, PhD
Director, Great Plains IDeA CTR Tracking and Evaluation Core
Assistant Professor, Department of Education and Child Development, UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute
Institutional Coordinators
Ann Anderson Berry, MD, PhD
Chief, UNMC Division of Neonatology
Vice Chair of Research, Department of Pediatrics
Professor, UNMC Division of Neonatology
Executive Director, Child Health Research Institute
Great Plains IDeA-CTR Institutional Coordinator for Children's Nebraska
Kimberly Carlson, PhD
Professor, Co-Chair, UNK Department of Biology
Great Plains IDeA-CTR Institutional Coordinator for UNK
Frederick Hamel, PhD
Professor, UNMC Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism
Great Plains IDeA-CTR institutional coordinator for Omaha VA Medical Center
Jennifer Mize-Nelson, PhD
Director, UNL Research Strategy and Infrastructure
Research Associate Professor, UNL Department of Psychology
Chris Stecker, PhD
Director, Spatial Hearing Laboratory, Boys Town National Research Hospital
Great Plains IDeA-CTR Institutional Coordinator for Boys Town National Research Hospital
Peter Steyger, PhD
Professor, Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University
Director, Bellucci Translational Hearing Center, Creighton University
Great Plains IDeA-CTR Institutional Coordinator for Creighton University