Helping People Live Well Through Innovative Research

At Aurora Health Care, our research leadership team includes administrators, service line managers and world-renowned doctors. We share a common devotion to improving care and wellness through patient-centered research.

Aurora Research Institute Leadership

The Aurora Research Institute leadership team includes:

President’s Office

• Randall Lambrecht, PhD, president of Aurora Research Institute/system vice president of Advocate Aurora Health
• Kelly Piacsek, PhD, vice president of patient-centered research
  
• Kurt Waldhuetter, MS, vice president of research business services

Patient-Centered Research Directors

• Amy Beres, PhD, oncology
• Nina Garlie, PhD, neuroscience and emerging areas
• Michelle Simpson, PhD, RN, Ed Howe Center for Health Care Transformation

Medical Research Directors

• Dennis J. Baumgardner, MD, Aurora UW Medical Group/editor-in-chief of Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews (JPCRR)
• Michael A. Thompson, MD, PhD, oncology (early-phase clinical trials)
• Judy A. Tjoe, MD, breast cancer (Translational Oncology Research: Quest for Understanding & Exploration)

Managers

• Shivam Bharti, MBA, MS, Research Business Innovation Manager
• Karen Cheek, RN, oncology clinical trials
• Wendy Dunaj, RN, cardiovascular clinical trials
• Katie Klein, research publications
• David Krum, MS, translational research
• Andy Marek, research analytics
• Lori McElrone, Aurora BayCare Medical Center research
• Karen Michel, translational research
• Natalie Polinske, MS, biorepository program
  
• Katie Richter, clinical trial business services
• Lynda Yanny, BSN, neuroscience and emerging areas clinical trials

Our Research Scientists and Biostatisticians

Cardiovascular Research Scientists

• Larisa Emelyanova, PhD, research scientist
• Kourosh Ravvaz, MD, PhD, MPH, senior research scientist
• Farhan Rizvi, PhD, research scientist

Cancer Research Scientists

• Jun Yin, PhD, research scientist

Neurosciences Research Scientists

• Parvez Akhtar, PhD, research scientist
• Santhi Konduri, PhD, senior research scientist        

Emerging Areas Research Scientist

• Sheldon Garrison, PhD, research scientist
• Mindy Waite, PhD, MS, research scientist
  
   

Biostatisticians

• Kayla Heslin, MPH, biostatistician
• Jennifer Homa, MS, biostatistician
• Ana Cristina Perez Moreno, MD, PhD, biostatistician
• Xianmiao (Kelley) Qiu, MD, MS, biostatistician