Campus Research Officers

Meet the dedicated officers for each CSU campus.

CSU Bakersfield
Isabel C. Sumaya, Ph.D.
Interim Associate Vice President, Grants, Research and Sponsored Programs
Dr. Sumaya is alumnus of CSUB earning her BA and MA in Psychology, her Ph.D. from The University of Texas at El Paso where she was trained as a behavioral neuroscientist completing postdoctoral work at Northwestern University Medical School. As faculty, she has secured 6.8 million from various NIH and DoE grants and is currently the Director and PI of CSUB’s NIH Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE), Research Ethics Review Coordinator for both the Human Subjects Institutional Review Board, and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and Director of the CSUB Rodent Animal Facility. She has provided hundreds of students enriching research experiences in her Behavioral Neuroscience Lab using rodent models.

CSU Channel Islands
Saiqa Anne Qureshi, Ph.D., MBA
Interim Research Sponsored Programs Director
Qureshi began her career in the United Kingdom, and has held a number of senior leadership positions in higher education including in both the CSU and UC systems, and Stanford University. She attended UCSD as an undergraduate, completed a Master’s Degree at Oxford, before completing her doctorate, as well as an MBA from Imperial College London. She is extensively published in both academic and industry publications, and speaks internationally about research management, communication, recruitment and retention, and the impact of diversity on research and higher education administration, and holds several adjunct faculty positions in Business Schools and in Research Administration.

Chico State
Mary Sidney
Chief Executive Officer, Chico State Enterprises
Following a national search, Mary Sidney was selected to serve as CEO of the Chico State Enterprises (CSE) effective October 1, 2019. Sidney joined CSE from the University of California Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory where she served as deputy for operations for the Energy Technologies Area (ETA), and more recently as senior advisor to the ETA associate laboratory director in the areas of business, finance, human resources and safety operations. 

Sidney holds a Bachelor of Science degree in applied economics from the University of San Francisco, with graduate studies in leadership and communications at the University of California, Berkeley.

CSU Dominguez Hills
Sheree M. Schrager, Ph.D.
Dean, Graduate Studies and Research
Dr. Schrager joined the CSU in 2017 after nine years conducting research at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. She has been a PI or Co-Investigator on nine major federal grants with cumulative funding exceeding $20M and has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed publications, with an emphasis on the behavioral health and risk outcomes of sexual and gender minority youth. An expert in human subjects research methods and statistical modeling, Dr. Schrager holds Master’s degrees in statistics and psychology and a PhD in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

CSU East Bay
Chandra (Khan) Srinivasan, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Khan received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Loyola University Chicago. Following two postdoctoral fellowships, she started at California State University, Fullerton as an Assistant Professor and was promoted early to the rank of Associate Professor and then to full Professor. She then served at California State University, Dominguez Hills as the inaugural Faculty Director for Research Development. She has mentored numerous scholars and has contributed to research capacity building and broadening participation at multiple California State University campuses.

Fresno State
Joy J. Goto, Ph.D.
Interim Dean, Research and Graduate Studies

CSU Fullerton
Binod Tiwari, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Vice President, Research & Sponsored Programs
Dr. Tiwari has served CSU, Fullerton for 13 years as an assistant professor through professor of civil & environmental engineering. He is a renowned scholar in geotechnical/earthquake engineering and natural disaster mitigation, and has been awarded more than $1.6 million in research grants in support of his endeavors. He is current chair of the Council for Undergraduate Research’s Engineering Division. He received over two dozen awards for his teaching, scholarship and service to university and community including the CSUF Outstanding Professor Award in 2017. Dr. Tiwari completed his BS in civil engineering from Tribhuvan University, Nepal; MS and PhD from Niigata University, Japan and post-doctoral studies at Virginia Tech.

Cal Poly Humboldt
Kacie Flynn
Executive Director, Sponsored Programs Foundation
Flynn joined the Cal Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation in August 2010, currently serving as the Executive Director. She has been actively involved with the CSU Auxiliary Organizations Association (AOA) for several years, serving as the 2020 AOA President and current member of the Past President’s Committee. Flynn oversees the auxiliary operations and staff, and serves as Humboldt's representative with the Chief Campus Research Officers (CCRO), the Agriculture Research Institute (ARI), along with chairing the Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (RSCA) annual competition. Flynn earned her Bachelor's Degree in Art Education from Cal Poly Humboldt with a Certificate in Gallery Studies, and her Masters of Science in Research Administration from Johns Hopkins University. She has earned the designation of Certified Research Administrator (CRA) from the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC).

CSU Long Beach
Barbara Taylor, Ph.D.
Associate Provost for Academic Research
Barbara Taylor is serving as the Interim AVP Research at CSU, Long Beach. She was a first-generation college graduate who went on to get her PhD from the University of British Columbia and had further training in post-doctoral positions. In her first faculty position at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, she was the inaugural director of the office of undergraduate research, interim director of the University Honors program, and was awarded a prestigious NIH BUILD, a $24M biomedical training grant. Barbara joined CSULB in 2016. Her commitment to undergraduate research continues, and she passionately advocates for multidisciplinary research.

Cal State LA
Hengchun “Haley” Ye, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President, Office of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities
Dr. Ye has a PhD in Climatology from the University of Delaware and a BS in Meteorology and MS in Atmospheric Dynamics from Zhejiang University in China. She served as the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at CSU Stanislaus for 3 years before returning to Cal State LA as the AVP for Research. She spent 20 years as a faculty member, department chair, founding director for NASA DIRECT-STEM, and associate Dean at Cal State LA. She had over $12M in grants for research that contributes to the knowledge of the changing hydrological system under a warming climate and best practices for the success of under-represented students.

Maritime Academy
Christopher Brown
Associate Vice President, Research and Innovation
Brown is the new AVP for Research and Innovation at Cal Maritime. This role unites his twin passions of science and creative academic entrepreneurialism to address challenges facing society, industry, and the academy. As CSUM’s recent Golden Bear Research Center Director, he investigated harmful invasive marine species. Previously, he held scientific research roles at the Smithsonian’s Marine Invasive Species Lab and California State Lands Commission. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science, and Technology (IMarEST). Brown received his BS in Biology from Sonoma State and his MSc in Ecology and Systematics from San Francisco State University.

​CSU Monterey Bay
Cindy Juntunen, Ph.D.​
Associate Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies
Juntunen has a BA in Psychology from the University of North Dakota, a Master’s degree from Ball State University, and a PhD in Counseling Psychology from UC Santa Barbara. She taught and served as an academic dean at the University of North Dakota from 1994-2023. She currently serves as Associate Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies at Cal State Monterey Bay. She serves on the Executive Committee of COAST (CSU Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology).

CSU Northridge
Mariappan ″Jawa″ Jawaharlal, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs
Jawaharlal has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He served as the Interim Vice President for Research and Associate Dean of the College of Engineering & Computer Science at CSU Sacramento, and as a Professor at Cal Poly Pomona. He has over 30 years of experience as an administrator, academic, industry professional, entrepreneur, and community organizer. Renowned for his innovative engineering pedagogy, he has received several awards, including the Wang Family Excellence Award and the Provost's Award for outstanding teaching.

Cal Poly Pomona
Craig LaMunyon, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation & Economic Development
With a bachelor’s from CSUF and a PhD in genetics from Cornell, Craig LaMunyon was a researcher at University of Arizona and a professor at Florida Atlantic University before relocating to Cal Poly Pomona in 2003 as an Assistant Professor in Biological Sciences.  Dr. LaMunyon has received $3.3M in research grants, published widely, and trained dozens of student researchers.  He served as chair of Biology from 2015 to 2018 and then as Associate Dean for Research and Academics in the College of Science through 2021.  He now serves as the Interim Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development.

Sacramento State 
Lisa Hammersley, Ph.D.
Interim Associate Vice President, Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development
Dr. Lisa Hammersley, Interim Associate Vice President for the Offices of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development Dr. Hammersley has a BS in Geology from the University of Birmingham, UK and a PhD in Geology from UC Berkeley. She joined Sacramento State as Assistant Professor of Geology in 2003, later serving as Associate Dean and then Dean of the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics. She has been the PI or Co-PI on grants totaling more than $27M, including as Lead Project Director for the CSU-LSAMP. She now serves as the interim Associate Vice President for the Offices of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development.

CSU San Bernardino
Timothy A. Akers, Ph.D.
Associate Provost for Academic Research
Dr. Tim Akers has held several key leadership roles at other institutions, including Associate Dean for Research in the Sciences and Assistant Dean for Research in Public Health, as well as AVP for Research Innovation and Advocacy. Dr. Akers is a former Senior Behavioral Scientist at the CDC and a Senior Research Scientist at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine. He founded the National Quantum Literacy Network and was among the first cohort appointed by the White House OSTP and the U.S. DOE to the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

San Diego State 
Hala Madanat, Ph.D.
Vice President of Research and Innovation

Dr. Hala Madanat is the V​ice President of Research and Innovation at San Diego State University. Previously, she served as the Director of SDSU’s School of Public Health. Dr. Madanat is leading a $3 million contact tracing program aimed to support underserved communities funded by the County of San Diego. She serves as the lead investigator on the $12 million SDSU/UCSD Cancer Center Partnership funded by NCI. Dr. Madanat has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Jordan, a M.S. in Community Health Sciences, and a Ph.D. in Sociology with a minor in Public Health, both from Brigham Young University.

San Francisco State​
Michael Scott, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President, Research and Sponsored Programs
Dr. Scott joined San Francisco State in 2016 after spending six years as a program officer in the Divisions of Materials Research and Chemistry at the National Science Foundation. Prior to the NSF, Dr. Scott was on the chemistry faculty at the University of Florida where he served as the division head for Inorganic Chemistry and as the director for the Center for Catalysis. While at Florida, he received an NSF CAREER award and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. Dr. Scott earned his bachelor's from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University. He also completed a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship at MIT.

San José State 
Marc d’Alarcao, Ph.D.
Dean, Graduate Studies and Research, Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation
d’Alarcao has a B.S. from Bridgewater State College and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, both in Chemistry. After postdoctoral work at Harvard, he served on the chemistry faculty at Tufts University for 21 years before moving to San José State University in 2007. He was appointed as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Science in 2015, inaugural Dean of the College of Graduate Studies in 2019, and interim Vice President for Research and Innovation in 2024. His research is focused in biological and medicinal chemistry.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Dawn Neill, Ph.D.
Interim Vice President, Division of Research
Neill received a B.A. and an M.A. in anthropology from Louisiana State University, and an M.S. in nutritional sciences and a Ph.D. in biocultural anthropology from the University of Washington. Neill was recently the director of research engagement and internationalization in the College of Liberal Arts and a professor of anthropology in the Interdisciplinary Studies in Liberal Arts Department. Her research specializations include medical and nutritional anthropology, food systems studies, evolutionary demography, and parental investment. Neill’s current international research examines urbanization and changing family dynamics. In the US, her research focuses on food insecurity and food knowledge production.

CSU San Marcos
Charles De Leone, Ph.D.
Dean, Graduate Studies and Research
Dr. De Leone received his B.S. from Santa Clara University and his Ph.D. in Physics from UC Davis. He has been a Professor of Physics at CSUSM for 22 years. He has successfully sought and managed large federal grants as PI and co-PI and worked to develop and implement best-practices science curriculum and in supporting institutional change in STEM. His efforts include founding of the CSUSM STEM Tutoring Center, founding and serving as one of the directors of the CSUSM Center for Research and Engagement in STEM Education, and developing and launching the CSUSM Innovation Hub as CSUSM's first Faculty Director of Innovation.

Sonoma State
Diane Guido, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Success

Guido earned a BA in modern languages from Pepperdine University as well as a PhD in European History and an MBA from Claremont Graduate University.  Her role at Sonoma State includes leading Faculty Affairs as well as the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.  Dr. Guido served in university administration at Claremont Graduate University, Azusa Pacific University, and at California State University, Northridge. As Vice Provost for Graduate Programs and Research at APU, she oversaw the creation of a comprehensive grants office resulting in an expansion of the university's portfolio.  She was a Fulbright Scholar to Germany.  

​Stanislaus State
Joyce Bell
Director, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Bell is the Director of Research and Sponsored Programs at California State University, Stanislaus.  She has over 29 years of experience in research administration and in her current position she serves as the Chief Research Officer and manages all pre-award and compliance activities at Stanislaus State.  Prior to that, she served as a departmental administrator at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a Master of ​Science in Research Administration from Johns Hopkins University, a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and maintains the designation of Certified Research Administrator (CRA) through the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC).