Team
Our Team
Heather Richter, PhD
Interim Executive Director
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Heather Richter
Heather Richter serves as the HRBRC’s Executive Director. Prior to her current role, Heather directed the HRBRC's multi-institutional Digital Neighborhoods research platform. She is an expert in applying computational and geospatial technologies to study the spatial and temporal relationships between determinants of health and patterns of chronic and infectious disease outcomes. Heather has held associate faculty appointments at Tulane, West Virginia University, and the University of Oklahoma. She currently volunteers as one of the founding board members for the Cancer Pain Research Consortium, as a panel reviewer for NIH, and works as a scientific consultant. She has been successfully funded by NIH through R21 and Clinical and Translational Science awards, and, as a veteran of large-scale scientific initiatives, has extensive experience in research design, scientific planning, and administration. Dr. Richter received her Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. from the University of Oklahoma.
Jeanne Yates
Executive Office Manager
Patrick Ball, PMP
Core Facilities Manager
Mark Beard
Technical Support Professional
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Mark Beard
In Mark's unique role, he provides IT services and support for ODU: VMASC & Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium (HRBRC).
Mark prides himself on cultivating a positive working environment for everyone around him.
Jonathan Colen, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
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Jonathan Colen, PhD
Jonathan's research aims to build interpretable models of complex systems using tools from machine learning and physics. Past efforts have lived at the intersection of soft materials and biology with topics topics ranging from liquid crystals to cells to developing fruit fly embryos.
David Frey
Information Assurance Engineer
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David Frey
David is a U.S. Marine Veteran who transitioned straight from the corps to the DOD Information Assurance world. As an Information Assurance Engineer, David works to ensure the newly established HRBRC project maintains in full compliance. This new environment, RRCE, was stood up to handle CUI/HIPPA-related data.
Bridget Giles, PhD
Director of Special Projects
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Bridget Giles
Bridget oversees high-priority programs within the HRBRC including the Collaboration Accelerator Fund, weekly biohealth seminar series, scholarships, and engagement with the startup community for programming and access to consortium facilities. She comes to HRBRC from her position as a Research Assistant Professor at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC). Prior to joining VMASC, she enjoyed ten years working in clinical research where she monitored and managed federally funded trials for the National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Giles holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Arts Degree in Biology from Hampton University, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Maryam Golbazi, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Maryam Golbazi, PhD
Maryam Golbazi is a research assistant professor at the HRBRC and holds a PhD in Ocean Engineering/Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Delaware and a master's degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of New Haven. Prior to joining HRBRC, Dr. Golbazi served as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), where she continued to specialize in conducting numerical weather and atmospheric chemistry modeling/forecasting for air quality improvement across diverse geographical locations around the globe. Her expertise extends to wind energy modeling and investigating wind turbine interactions within the atmospheric boundary layer. Before her career took a path into atmospheric sciences and engineering, Dr. Golbazi pursued a B.S. in architectural engineering, focusing on sustainable green buildings and energy-efficient techniques for buildings. Her passion now lies in exploring various scientific questions within the realm of atmospheric sciences.
Seth Hohensee
Dev Ops
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Seth Hohensee
As an HPC DevOps Engineer, Seth's main goal in this position is to automate the standup of virtual machines to provide a better user experience.
Chetan Kumar, PhD
Research Scientist
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Dr. Chetan Kumar
Dr. Kumar's research interests are in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. He has experience developing novel applications in computer vision, graph neural networks, and adversarial learning on large scale datasets in academic and industrial environments. Track record of publications in prestigious conferences and journals with a graduate research award from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Experience in teaching, mentoring and collaboration with an ability to multi-task. Curious and excited to innovate and develop novel methodologies and solutions in the field of machine learning.
Emily Martin, MPH
Program Manager
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Emily Martin
Emily manages multi-institutional projects and works with diverse research teams to build partnerships that support HRBRC’s mission to reduce health disparities and foster regional collaboration. Prior to joining HRBRC, she interned for Sentara Medical Group and worked with administrative and clinical leaders to develop new projects and advance strategic initiatives. Emily conducted her MPH practicum at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, received her Master’s in Public Health, Health Management and Policy from Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), and received her B.S. from the College of William and Mary. A proud native of Norfolk, Emily is passionate about volunteering for local schools and can often be found walking her two English labs.
Dr. Achyut Paudel
Research Scientist
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Achyut Paudel, PhD
Achyut Paudel is a Research Scientist where he plays a pivotal role in the ODU/JLab Data Science team. His work centers on cutting-edge research and development in data science, with a specific focus on addressing population health, clinical health, and coastal resilience. Paudel's diverse academic background includes a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Alabama, a Master's degree in Engineering from Ecole Centrale Nantes, France, and a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China. His expertise lies in key areas, including Uncertainty Quantification, Stochastic Optimization, Surrogate Modeling, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning. Dr. Paudel's proactive and self-driven approach, combined with exceptional interpersonal skills, fosters seamless collaboration across multidisciplinary teams. His impressive record of peer-reviewed publications reflects his unwavering commitment to advancing the frontiers of data science and machine learning, making him a valued asset within his organization.