Research Development

Our team supports strategic, catalytic, and capacity-building activities to help advance research and catalyze partnerships.

Fostering Collaborative Research

The Research Development team seeks to foster collaborative research. We offer guidance, programming, and support that fosters and cultivates a vibrant research environment across disciplines.

Consultations for Funding

We are here to discuss your research goals, assist you in identifying funding opportunities, and create a customized funding strategy.

Team Building Sessions

We provide strategies for bringing teams together to align with their goals and promote effective collaboration. We help design ideation activities and planning cooperation across various topics and disciplines. Our staff supports teams at every maturity level, from initial concepts to established groups seeking large-scale federal funding. We can offer customized sessions on team science and specific large-scale funding opportunities.

Proposal Development

We offer extensive support for multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary, and multi-institutional proposals led by faculty at A&S. Our staff delivers proposal management support to the team, which includes creating timelines and checklists, assigning tasks, communicating with the research administrator, and tracking progress and deadlines. We assist in drafting supplementary documents and letters of collaboration. Additionally, we provide guidance to improve the quality and competitiveness of grant proposals. We also share best practices for developing team science proposals to ensure effective leadership and management of partners.

Proposal Review

Our staff organizes external peer reviews, such as the Red Team review, to collect constructive feedback before submission, which enhances the quality and alignment of the proposal with the agency’s mission.

Post-submission

We help prepare and facilitate agency site visits, support ideation and proposal development to planning grants, and help with revision/resubmission/re-purposing of unsuccessful proposals.

Meet Our Team

Bhavna Hirani
Director of Research Development

Bhavna leads the Arts & Sciences Research Development team, providing support to faculty in developing competitive research proposals, establishing research partnerships, and sharing resources for the grant writing process. She holds a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Southern California and an undergraduate degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Her expertise encompasses research, research development, research project management, and partnership management.

Rachel Commander
Senior Research Development Associate

Rachel supports Arts & Sciences faculty in developing large-scale interdisciplinary grant proposals. She holds a doctorate in cancer biology from Emory University and has overseen peer reviews at the American Cancer Society. Rachel’s expertise in research development from Morehouse School of Medicine provides valuable insights on writing successful proposals.

Andreia Dexheimer
Research Development Associate

Andreia supports faculty, particularly in the biology department, with team building and grant writing. She earned a doctorate in biology from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, and an MBA in Project Management. Andreia has extensive experience in biology and STEM research across multiple continents. She offers valuable insights into the funding landscape and shares best practices for securing large grants.

Ally McClure
Research Development Associate

Ally supports faculty in Space Sciences by providing insights into the funding landscape and grant development assistance. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Missouri St. Louis. Ally has spent most of her career as an entrepreneur in the quantitative sciences, bringing extensive knowledge of strategy, team leadership, project management, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) mechanisms, and grant acquisition across scientific disciplines.

Yi Yi
Senior Scientist

Yi manages the Polymer Core Facility in the Chemistry Department. He specializes in the synthesis of advanced polymers, functional micro-/nanoparticles, and hydrogels. Before joining WashU in July 2025, he was a research scientist at Indiana University. Yi earned his Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry from Peking University in 2004. After his postdoc at Cornell University, he spent several years in the electronic materials industry and was a visiting scientist at the IBM Almaden Research Center. On this team, Yi assists A&S faculty with proposal development and team-building initiatives. His blend of expertise in chemistry, materials, industrial R&D, and academic facility management gives him a valuable perspective on the research development process.