Message from the President
August 10, 2021
Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Thomas Spencer and Dr. Angela Cook will be joining us as Associate Vice President/Research Operations for the Research Division and as Associate Vice President for Clinical and Translational Research in the School of Medicine respectively.
Dr. Spencer received his BA in Interdisciplinary Studies, Executive MBA, and PhD in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas. He joins us from UT Southwestern where has been serving as Assistant Vice President leading three units of the Academic and Administration Information Resources Department. He has over 15 years of experience in supporting and leading research and research administrative functions including directing work in IRB, IACUC and COI as well as in the sponsored programs area. In addition, he served as the Director for the University Software Core and oversaw the Research Computing Core. Dr. Spencer has held regional and national appointments to the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) and was a key player in the development and implementation of the National Institutions of Health (NIH) grants.gov platform for grant submission at Southwestern.
In his new role Dr. Spencer will oversee the Office of Research Operations that will house the departments of Research Administration and the Office of Research Compliance and Export Control. He will work closely with research faculty across the university in improving the quality of our services and increasing research support. He will play a key role in establishing best practices and standard operating procedures in research administration, IRB, IACUC, IBC and COI management. In collaboration with IT, Dr. Spencer will increase online functionalities and diminish paper processes.
Angela R. Cook, PhD, MNHP, RN, OCN, CCRP, joins the UTRGV School of Medicine in September as the Associate Vice President for Clinical and Translational Research. Before joining UTRGV, she served as executive director of research at the University of Kansas Health System, director of shared research services for UT System and director for clinical research at UT Medical Branch in Galveston. Dr. Cook brings extensive research-related experience to guide our strategic efforts for clinical and translational research as we grow our focus areas in neuroscience, cancer, and diabetes.
Dr. Cook earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Iowa, her Master in Nursing and Healthcare Practice at the University of Iowa and her Doctorate in Nursing and Healthcare Practice at The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Cook will work with faculty and external community to establish a clinical trials program to translate knowledge gained from the laboratory into new diagnostic tests and treatments for improving patient outcomes in the Rio Grande Valley and beyond.
We look forward to having Dr. Spencer and Dr. Cook join our UTRGV family.
Sincerely,
Guy Bailey
President