Welcoming our new Associate Vice Provosts

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to welcome two new associate vice provosts who will be joining the Stanford research community.  

• Linda Coleman, JD, is our incoming Associate Vice Provost for Research Policy and Integrity, beginning July 8.  
• Ann Johnson, PhD, is our incoming Associate Vice Provost, Research Compliance, and will begin on August 15.

Earlier this year, we launched national searches for these two positions. Each search committee was co-chaired by a senior associate vice provost and a senior staff member and included faculty and staff who brought diverse perspectives to their conversations with potential candidates. I thank the search committees for their energy, thoroughness, and dedication.

Linda and Ann are both experienced and proven leaders. They join Stanford at a time when we are experiencing greater scrutiny from our federal partners and higher expectations from research participants and the public. This requires us to do everything with the utmost integrity to maintain trust. I know that Linda and Ann share this belief. At the same time, I know they are committed to efficiency, to eliminating barriers in the conduct of research at Stanford, and to reducing administrative burdens on our faculty.  

I previously shared that Kathy McClelland will transition from her current role to focus on her ongoing responsibilities as the University’s Research Integrity Officer. Cindy Kiel has already transitioned to serve as our Chief Research Conflict Officer and graciously agreed to act as leader of the RPI team while that search was underway. I am very grateful to Kathy and Cindy for all they have done – and continue to do in support of research at Stanford.

Please feel free to share this message with faculty, staff, postdocs, students, and others who may be interested in this good news.

Continue reading to learn more about Linda and Ann's backgrounds, experiences, and training. Have a wonderful summer.

Be well and stay safe,

David Studdert

Vice Provost and Dean of Research

Linda Coleman, JD

Associate Vice Provost for Research Policy and Integrity

Linda Coleman has been the Director of the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) at Yale University for over eight years. She is responsible for the oversight and administration of the university’s comprehensive Human Research Protection Program and has responsibility for supporting Yale’s Institutional Review Boards and several non-IRB committees.

She also serves on several Yale committees and working groups, including the Investigator Conflict of Interest Committee, Institutional Biological Committee/Human Gene Transfer Subcommittee, Clinical and Translational Research Oversight Committee, Data Safety Monitoring Committee, Cancer Center Clinical Trials Advisory Committee, Data Privacy Advisory Council, and the Yale University/Yale New Haven Health System Health Data Governance Council.

Before joining Yale, Linda worked at Quorum Review, an independent IRB that reviewed biomedical and nonbiomedical research and provided consulting services to industry sponsors, institutions, and other organizations. While there, she served in progressive leadership roles, including Vice President of Regulatory and Legal Affairs, Director of Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel, and Director of Regulatory Affairs. Earlier in her career, Ms. Linda worked as an Associate Attorney at Bennett, Bigelow & Leedom, specializing in general health law matters, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, litigation, behavioral health, and employment law.

Linda is involved in several professional organizations. She was a member of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protection (SACHRP) and currently serves as Co-chair on SACHRP’s Subpart A Subcommittee (SAS). Additionally, she serves on Boards such as the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) and Public Responsibility in Medicine & Research (PRIM&R). She also contributed to projects led by organizations such as the Industry Pharmacogenomics Education Task Force (I-PWG), Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI), and the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard (MRCT).  Linda is a frequent speaker on topics such as good clinical practice, research oversight, decentralized clinical trials, data privacy, process improvement, quality assurance, research compliance, responsible conduct of research, and global research issues.

Ann Johnson, PhD

Associate Vice Provost, Research Compliance

Ann Johnson has been the Director for the University of Utah Institutional Review Board and Human Research Protection Program, as well as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah College of Nursing. She specializes in research ethics and is an expert in human subjects research regulations and requirements. She is an active member of the research community.  In addition to overseeing IRB review of all research protocols at the University of Utah, she has conducted research in the fields of public health and research ethics. She helped establish a single IRB process for the University of Utah and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science-funded Trial Innovation Network. Ann also worked closely with the SMART IRB initiative to provide harmonized guidance on IRB reliance and the functions of human research protection programs. Under Ann’s leadership, the university developed an advanced electronic system for IRB submission and review, creating a one-stop shop for researchers to submit and obtain approvals.

Ann participates in many national forums with the federal government, accrediting bodies, commercial IRBs, and academic research institutions to address problems and priorities for research oversight and quality. She also serves as a site visitor for the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs.