Member Group: Research Education Program Management
ChicagoCHEC Role: Research Education Core Manager
Organization: Northeastern Illinois University
Lauren DeMaat, MPA, Research and Education Core Program Coordinator for the NEIU division of ChicagoCHEC. She became interested in public health while working for UIC Community Outreach Intervention Projects (COIP) as an undergraduate student. After completing her undergraduate education at UIC in 2009, she continued working for COIP in an administrative capacity. earned her Master of Public Administration degree with a focus on Non-Profit and Public Management. In 2022, she joined the NEIU Center of Health as an administrative assistant, and in 2023 she joined ChicagoCHEC as the REC program coordinator.
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ChicagoCHEC Role: Research Education Core
Organization: University of Illinois Cancer Center
Title: Visiting Research Associate II
Ana is the Research Education Core Manager for the UIC division of ChicagoCHEC. She is a UIC alum with Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Spanish with minors in Chemistry and Psychology. She has years of experience working in Psychology and Clinical Trial research laboratories. In addition, she has experience as an educator, teaching college-level courses in Psychology and Research Education courses for high school students. As a former Senior Fellow of the ChicagoCHEC Fellows Program and a Chicagoland native, she is passionate about addressing healthcare disparities and access to education in under-resourced communities.
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ChicagoCHEC Role: Site Director
Organization: Northeastern Illinois University
Title: Research Center Manager
Joeli Brinkman is the Research Center Manager and Site Director for Northeastern Illinois. Joeli received her Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology from the Louisiana State Health Science Center in New Orleans. She then spent several years in the cancer field doing basic science research on Cervical Cancer detection and vaccination and Estrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancers before becoming a Program Manager at the University of Chicago. At the University of Chicago, Joeli ran a large P30 center grant focused on Digestive Disease research including Colon Cancer. Her unique experience in basic science research and program management and her passion for coaching and promoting diversity in the next generation of scientists adds a unique perspective to the educational and outreach programming of the ChicagoCHEC collaborative.
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ChicagoCHEC Role: Research Education Core Co-Leader
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Jorge Girotti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Education at UIC. He is also Associate Dean and Director, Special Curricular Programs –overseeing Joint Degree programs (MD-MPH, MD-MBA and MD-MS-CTS), the Guaranteed Professional Program Admissions (GPPA) in Medicine, and the Urban Medicine program. Dr. Girotti is also Director of Admissions, College of Medicine. He directs the Hispanic Center of Excellence, which aims to promote science and medical careers for Hispanic youth, expose undergraduate and medical students to biomedical and clinical research, and increase the representation of Latino faculty in UIC’s medical school. His persistence and vision has contributed in great part to the top ranking of UIC’s College of Medicine as a producer of minority MDs. Jorge’s efforts over the past 35 years in diversifying the scientific workforce has taught him that a complex challenge such as the scarce pipeline to medicine must be tackled through a variety of approaches.
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