CIMER Internal Team
Dr. Christine Pfund
CIMER Director
Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), Department of Medicine, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) and Center for Women's Health Research
Dr. Melissa McDaniels
Associate Executive Director
Dr. Jenna Rogers
Research Director
Kim Spencer
Assistant Director of Research & Evaluation
Emily Utzerath
Executive Project Lead
Lisette Serrano
Research Program Coordinator
Stephanie House
CAM Project Co-Lead
Ellyssa Eiring
Research Services Manager
Julia Vander Meer
Research Services Manager
Fátima Sancheznieto
Researcher
Julie Hau
Researcher
So Hee Hyun
Researcher
Ashley Armitage
Project Manager
Emma Dumms
Research Analyst
Taylor Ajamian
Administrative Specialist
Jessica Nunn
Event & Program Specialist
Victoria Zurakowski
Event & Program Coordinator
Alka Lakadia
Undergraduate Assistant
Faculty Leaders
Dr. Janet Branchaw
CIMER Faculty Leader, Professor
Department of Kinesiology
Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement (WISCIENCE),
University of Wisconsin
Dr. Angela Byars-Winston
CIMER Faculty Leader, Professor
Department of Medicine
Collaborative Center for Health Equity
Center for Women's Health Research,
University of Wisconsin
Dr. Christine Sorkness
CIMER Faculty Leader, Professor
School of Medicine and Public Health
School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin
External Advisory Board
External advisory boards can provide an organization and its leadership/management team with valuable insight, knowledge, and advice. The CIMER External Advisory Board members have diverse skills and experience to provide CIMER leadership and management with objective opinions about the organization as well as provide input and recommendations towards specific projects on a quarterly basis.
Dr. David Asai
is a former Senior Director for Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute where he served 2008-2024. Prior to joining HHMI, David was on the faculty at Purdue University, where he was Head of Biological Sciences, and then on the faculty at Harvey Mudd College, where he was Stuart Mudd Professor and Chair of Biology. Currently, David is a member of several advisory committees, including: Understanding Interventions, Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI), Yale Ciencia Academy, Claremont McKenna College Founding Science Advisory Council, the NASEM Committee on Advancing Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM, the Yale University Peabody Museum Advisory Council, and the Board of Directors of Conservation Nation. David received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Stanford University and the PhD in biology from Caltech. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Society for Cell Biology Board Members.
Dr. Aaron Brower
was the Executive Director for UW Extended Campus, and the Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at University of Wisconsin System until summer 2023 when he retired. UWEX has a national reputation for award-winning innovative online programs for adults and professionals. Among UWEX’s innovations is the UW Flexible Option, the first-in-the-country (and still only) competency-based educational program run throughout an entire statewide system. From 2012-2018, Dr. Brower served as Provost of UW-Extension (and Interim Chancellor of UW Colleges and UW-Extension in 2014). From 2007-2021, he was UW-Madison’s Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning. Dr. Brower remains a tenured professor at UW-Madison’s School of Social Work. His scholarship demonstrates the academic and social outcomes produced when colleagues blend in- and out-of-class learning — engaging the whole university to support the entire student.
Dr. Deborah Faye Carter
is an associate professor of higher education at the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University. Deborah received her bachelor’s in Sociology and Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master’s and PhD in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. From 1997 to 2004 Deborah worked as an assistant professor of higher education at Indiana University, where she was also program chair of the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. After she left Indiana University, she was an associate professor at the University of Michigan in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE). Deborah served as director of CSHPE from 2006 to 2009. Deborah has won multiple different awards pertaining to higher education, including the Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) in 1998 and the Harold Johnson Diversity Award from the University of Michigan in 2011. She focuses on higher education, the transition into college, access to college, and equity and inclusion specifically in the STEM fields.
Dr. Nora Dominguez
is president emeritus of the International Mentoring Association, director of the Mentoring Institute, and a professional consultant at the University of New Mexico (UNM), with more than 25 years developing financial and learning strategies for the improvement of organizational and individual performance. Domínguez earned her bachelor degree in Accounting from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), her MBA. from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and her PhD in Organizational Learning and Instructional Technologies from the University of New Mexico (UNM). Professional experiences include educational and management positions in banking and higher education, financial consulting services, and program evaluation. She is a member of several boards, including the International Standards for Mentoring Programmes in Employment and the Diversity Leadership Council. Domínguez is an editorial reviewer for the International Journal for Mentoring and Coaching (Emerald) and member of the editorial review board for the Student Learning through Mentored Scholarship Journal (Sage).
Dr. Diana Hess
is professor of the UW–Madison School of Education Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She previously served as Dean for the UW-Madison School of Education. Dr. Hess also previously served as senior vice president of the Spencer Foundation in Chicago. The organization funds research to improve education policy and practice. Since 1997, Hess has researched how teachers engage their students in discussions of highly controversial political and constitutional issues, and what impact this approach to civic education has on what young people learn. Dean Hess has an acclaimed background in education; she has been awarded the Karen A. Falk Distinguished Chair of Education and is part of the National Academy of Education.