Program staff
Marjannie Akintunde, Ph.D.
Program Officer for Biomedical Sciences and Health Equity
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-0512
Dr. Akintunde holds a Ph.D. in Immunology with a designated emphasis in Biotechnology from UC Davis where she received multiple fellowships and awards for her research on the health effects of maternal and childhood exposure to environmental toxicants. Unique for a basic biomedical researcher, Marjannie also has diverse research experience including community-based participatory research, regulatory sciences, and policy research. In her previous position in the Office of Research at UC Davis, Marjannie coordinated proposal development and submissions for interdisciplinary large-scale ($5 - 30M) research grants to the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institution of Health (NIH), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She is passionate about the environmental health impacts of tobacco use, particularly with vulnerable populations including youth and disadvantaged communities.
Danyetta Anderson, Ph.D.
Program Officer for Biomedical Sciences and Health Equity
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-0513
Dr. Anderson holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Ohio State University with a research background in breast cancer. She holds a certificate in Public Health (with a focus on cancer etiology) from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. While serving as an Assistant Professor at Loma Linda University, Danyetta’s research focus was in the etiology of triple-negative breast cancer and the disparately high incidence in African American women. She is passionate about the cross section between biomedical science and health equity and looks forward to exploring the application of these disciplines in achieving better outcomes for underserved communities.
Deborah Colosi, Ph.D.
Program Officer for Neuroscience
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-6140
Dr. Colosi received her doctorate in Endocrinology from UC Berkeley and her bachelor’s degree in biology from UC Santa Cruz. Prior to joining TRDRP, she conducted research in the pharmaceutical industry and gained extensive experience as a Program Officer at the National Institutes of Health managing research initiatives focused on advancing basic research findings into human clinical trials to address unmet medical needs.
Ginny Delaney, Ph.D.
Senior Program Officer for Biomedical Sciences
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-587-6292
Dr. Delaney earned her doctorate in Molecular Biology at Cornell Medical College while conducting research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She has worked in grant-making at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York and with the Industry-University Cooperative Research Program (IUCRP) at UCOP. She is passionate about bringing scientific evidence to bear on policy making.
Joanne D'Silva, Ph.D.
Program Officer for Social Behavioral Sciences
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-9526
Dr. D’Silva earned her Ph.D. in Behavioral and Community Health from the University of Maryland. She earned her M.P.H. in Social and Behavioral Sciences and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida. Joanne was the former Director of Health Equity Research at ClearWay Minnesota, where she played a key role in research, evaluation, and surveillance initiatives focused on addressing commercial tobacco disparities. Prior to joining TRDRP, Joanne led efforts to increase diversity and foster inclusion at the National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Training. Her professional interests include the dissemination and translation of strategies to inform programs and policy aimed at advancing health equity. She is also passionate about broadening the participation of groups underrepresented in research.
Maggie Kulik, Ph.D.
Senior Program Officer for State and Local Policy
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-0861
Dr. Kulik has a doctorate in Public Health (Social Epidemiology) and master’s degrees in International Economics and Demography. Prior to joining TRDRP she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in tobacco control at UCSF, followed by a faculty position at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She is passionate about understanding the impact of health policies on tobacco use and on population health, and about ways to achieve health equity.
Becky Theilmann, Ph.D.
Program Officer for Biomedical Sciences
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-9214
Dr. Theilmann received her doctorate in Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. Prior to joining TRDRP, she had been a biomedical research scientist at UCSD focused on developing novel MRI techniques combining the expertise of physics, physiology, and medicine. She looks forward to contributing her skills and experiences to support junior investigators in their future efforts to enrich and diversify the academic biomedical scientific community.
Rebecca Williams, Ph.D.
Program Officer for Social Behavioral Sciences
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-9314
Dr. Williams has a doctorate in Health Behavior and Health Education from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, and a Master of Health Science in Population Dynamics & Reproductive Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Prior to joining TRDRP, she had a 25+ year career focused primarily on directing tobacco and cancer control research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she pioneered research in internet tobacco product sales and online age verification. She also spent two decades as the Co-Leader and Chief Technology Officer of the national CDC- and NCI-funded Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network. She is passionate about understanding the impact of internet tobacco sales on adult and youth access to tobacco products, and of the impact of health policies in this area. Further, she is passionate about understanding and improving the impact that evidence-based tobacco, cancer, and HIV control programs have on underserved communities.
Tashelle Wright, Ph.D.
Associate Program Officer
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-0290
Dr. Wright holds doctorate and master’s degrees in Public Health from the University of California, Merced. She completed an independent postdoctoral fellowship at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto in 2022, and a predoctoral fellowship funded by TRDRP at the UC Merced in 2021. She continues to work with and within underserved, marginalized communities to identify culturally and linguistically appropriate programming, interventions, and methods of evaluation. She is passionate about incorporating intersectionality in community-based and community-driven health equity research.
Tracy Richmond McKnight, Ph.D.
Director
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-9811
Dr. McKnight received her doctorate in Biomedical Engineering from UC Davis and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from Spelman College and Polytechnic University. She served for 15 years on the faculty of UCSF where she led a successful independent research program in neuroimaging of brain cancer. With a goal of making science more accessible to policymakers and community members, Dr. McKnight joined TRDRP, serving as a Program Officer for Cancer and Neuroscience. Concurrently, she worked with Valerion Therapeutics LLC as Director of Translational Research, where she gained direct knowledge of the regulatory process leading to FDA approval of therapeutic agents. Dr. McKnight is passionate about increasing diversity in the STEM fields and supporting research that has a direct and positive impact on the community at large.
Jen Jackson, B.S.
Project Policy Analyst
Contact: Email | Phone: 510-987-9888
Mrs. Jackson has years of administrative experience working with the California HIV/AIDS Research Program (CHRP), the California Healthcare Foundation, and UCSF's Center for the Health Professions. She works closely with the TRDRP director and staff as well as the Scientific Advisory Committee members and help coordinate special projects within TRDRP.
Inquiries regarding LOI/application forms and instructions or reviewer questions may be directed to the Research Grants Program Office (RGPO): RGPOGrants@ucop.edu or (510) 987-9386.
Contact Information:
Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP)
Research Grants Program Office
University of California, Office of the President
1111 Franklin Street, 11th Floor
Oakland, CA 94607
Phone: (510) 987-9870
Fax: (510) 587-6325
Url: www.trdrp.org