Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE)

Steering Committee

• meet twice yearly (once in conjunction with the EAC) to provide advice on program policies, strategy, and program evaluation
• participate in the annual retreat and evaluation of projects and cores
• serve as mentors for project or core staff
• promote collaboration between other IDeA/INBRE programs

The Steering Committee  will report to the PI and provide guidance in program administration, mentoring, and evaluation. All committee members are established scientists who represent GSBSE institutions that participate in IDeA programs. All have confirmed their commitment to the proposed COBRE over a five-year period as a means of growing GSBSE and Maine’s biomedical research capacity. The Steering committee will meet in person twice a year and ad hoc as needed. Meetings will occur with a minimum of 4 of the 6 members present. Minutes will document discussion and action items.

David Harder, PhD is a UMaine Research Professor of Medicine and Director of the UMaine Institute of Medicine. He has extensive experience as an investigator, administrator, and mentor. He was Professor of Physiology and Medicine and Associate Dean at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) prior to his current appointment at UMaine. His funding history with NIH includes 40 years of continuous R01 funding. He has been cited by NIH as being in the top 5% of funded investigators over a 25-year period. He has served as principal investigator on multiple P01 grants. Dr. Harder retired from MCW in 2019 as Professor Emeritus. His role at UMaine is to enhance the biomedical sciences research environment, with a focus on mentoring early career faculty and establishing professional development opportunities. His role in this COBRE will be to advise and assist Dr. Henry in mentoring activities.

Lucy Liaw, PhD is a Senior Scientist at Maine Medical Center Research Institute (MMCRI) and is the Director of MMCRI’s Research Education and Training Programs. Dr. Liaw is PI of the COBRE in Mesenchymal and Neural Regulation of Metabolic Networks at MMCRI. Dr. Liaw is Co-PI of the GSBSE T32 with Dr. Henry, and has worked closely with Dr. Henry on growing biomedical research education in Maine. Dr. Liaw is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, and has held leadership roles within that association, serving as past member of the Board of Directors of the Founders Affiliate (2007-2011), Chair of the Vascular Wall Biology study section (2010-2012), and as a member of the Research Committee (2009-2014).

Robert Burgess, PhD is a Professor at The Jackson Laboratory. In 2020, he was named a Javits Neuroscience Investigator by NINDS for his work on mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Burgess has served in leadership roles within GSBSE for over a decade and is currently Chair of the GSBSE  Curriculum Committee. He is on the scientific advisory boards of the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association, the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation, and the Talia Duff Foundation, and he served as Chair of the NIH study section for Cellular and Molecular Biology of Neurodegeneration (2018-2020).

Patricia Hand, PhD is Vice President Emeritus and Senior Advisor to the President of MDIBL. She is a member of the National EPSCoR/IDeA Coalition of States Board of Directors and is Vice Chair of the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board, which serves as Maine’s EPSCoR Committee. She chairs the External Advisory Committee of the New Hampshire IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, and is a member of the External Advisory Committee of the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence. At the NIH and MDI Biological Laboratory, Dr. Hand built multi-institutional collaborative research networks. She served as Principal Investigator of the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) from its inception in 2001 until 2016.

Mary Ann Handel, PhD is Professor Emeritus at the Jackson Laboratory (JAX). Dr. Handel is an AAAS fellow, and was instrumental in the genesis of GSBSE (serving on the Steering Committee from 2008 to 2016). She served as graduate program director at JAX from 2008 to 2017.