Staff Announcement: New Associate Director, IRB Operations
Dear Northwestern Research Community,
After a 3-month long nationwide search with a diverse candidate slate of high-caliber applicants, I am pleased to announce that effective Monday March 14th, 2022 that Lisa Linn will assume the inaugural role of Associate Director, IRB Operations for Northwestern University’s IRB Office.
Lisa Linn has been a valued employee of Northwestern University for approximately 22 years. Lisa first began her career with Northwestern in 2000 with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center where she served for 7 years in the roles of Clinical Research Coordinator, Regulatory Affairs Coordinator and also served as a protocol reviewer for the Clinical Protocols Scientific Review and Monitoring Committee. Lisa has been a member of the IRB Office team for 15 years and joined the Office for Protection of Research Subjects/IRB (the predecessor of the IRB Office) in 2007 as a Senior IRB Analyst. Since then Lisa has served in the roles of Biomedical IRB Lead Analyst and for the past 4+ years as Biomedical IRB Manager, in which she oversaw the daily operations and regulatory compliance of IRB review workflow/oversight processes for biomedical human research at Northwestern, and was responsible for the supervision and training of a team of 13 staff members.
In the role of Associate Director, IRB Operations Lisa will continue to support the mission of Northwestern University’s Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) and IRB to safeguard the rights and welfare of human participants involved in research, and will assist the Executive Director and AVP in the development of the IRB Office/HRPP strategic plan and fiscal management. The Associate Director, IRB Operations has the primary responsibility for overseeing the daily operational aspects of the IRB Office and the Biomedical and Social Behavioral Research IRB Panels, including managing a team of 20 staff members. As Associate Director, IRB Operations, Lisa will serve on the IRB Office leadership team, and will work closely with members of Office for Research and HRPP Leadership, IRB Chairs, University Affiliates and ancillary committee leadership, and other stakeholders in the University’s research community to ensure HRPP operational efficiency and compliance with federal, state, and local laws regarding human research and accreditation requirements
In addition to 20 years of human research regulatory compliance and Institutional Review Board experience, Lisa has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Psychology from Indiana University with a minor in German, and Lisa has maintained Certified IRB Professional (CIP) status for the past 13+ years. We are extremely excited to have Lisa as the new Associate Director, IRB Operations. Please join me in congratulating her!
Healthy Wishes,
Nathalia
Nathalia Henry Whitely, MS, CHRC, CIP
Executive Director, IRB Office
Northwestern University
Institutional Review Board Office