OPAS Reviewer Assignments

Office of Pre-Award Services - Staff Contacts

When preparing proposals for submission, please follow the established University procedures. Please contact the appropriate Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS) staff member from the list below if questions arise or send a request via the R&E Help Desk. 

Industry subcontracts with prime sponsors other than DOD will be assigned to the reviewer for that prime sponsor. 

Please note: OPAS is currently working fully remotely. Email is the most direct way to contact staff. Our central email is pre-award@umass.edu, and phone is 413-545-0699.

Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS)

Kristy Reese (MA, CRA) Director:

  • U.S. Agency for International Development
  • UMass Donahue Institute proposals

Sarah Vega-Liros (MA, CRA) Assistant Director

  • OPAS Help Desk Manager
  • Proposal Development Supervisor

Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS) - Proposal Development

 Ellen Bitzer (CRA) Senior Pre-Award Research Administrator:

  • Proposal development (administrative and budget support for all sponsors, primarily focused on non-standard and complex proposals) 

Wendy Ardagna (MBA) Pre-Award Research Administrator:

  • Proposal development (administrative and budget support for all sponsors, primarily focused on non-standard and complex proposals) 

Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS) - Proposal Review and Submission

Koren Berrio (CRA) Senior Pre-Award Research Administrator:

  • Other Colleges & Universities (CICS, CNS, SPHHS)
  • U.S. Department of Defense (Air Force, AFOSR, Army, Navy, DARPA)
  • U.S. Department of Transportation
  • Other States, Local Governments

Kimberly Lowney Pre-Award Research Administrator:

  • National Science Foundation (NSF) for departments within the colleges of Engineering; Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Quasi Gov't (GSA, Nat'l Research Council, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Smithsonian Institution, Holocaust Memorial Museum)
  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Felisha Moses Pre-Award Research Administrator

  • Foundations and other non-profits
  • Institutes and Associations

Matthew Pageau Pre-Award Research Administrator

  • Other Colleges & Universities (All other colleges and centers except CICS, CNS, SPHHS)
  • Industry proposals
  • NIH/USDA overflow

Mary Santos (CRA) Senior Pre-Award Research Administrator:

  • National Science Foundation (NSF) only for departments in the College of Natural Sciences and the College of Information and Computer Sciences; Humanities & Fine Arts; and the schools of Education, Management; Nursing; and Public Health & Health
  • Independent Establishments (EPA, Inter-American Foundation, NASA, NEA, NEH, Office of Research & Dev., Peace Corps, SBA, Nuclear Reg. Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission)
  • Space Telescope Science Institute (STSCI)

Sara Santos (CRA) Senior Pre-Award Research Administrator:

  • DHHS/PHS (Nat'l. Institutes of Health-NIH, Health Resources and Services Admin., Food & Drug Admin., Agency for Health Care Policy, Head Start Program); supporting all schools and colleges except the College of Natural Sciences
  • U.S. Department of Education
  • U.S. Department of Energy
  • U.S. Dept of Homeland Security
  • Health Agencies (such as PCORI)
  • Other Sponsors (individuals, foreign governments, etc.)

Becky Shafer Pre-Award Research Administrator

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture (NIFA, APHIS, MIS, SEA, CREES, CSRS, NRE, U.S. Forest Service)
  • DHHS/PHS (National Institutes of Health (NIH), Health Resources and Services Administration, Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Agency for Health Care Policy, Head Start Program); supporting the College of Natural Sciences only
  • U.S. Department of Interior (Bureau of Indian Affairs, Geological Survey, National Biological Survey, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
  • U.S. Department of Commerce (Econ. Dev. Admin., Nat'l. Telecomm and Info Admin., NOAA, National Institute of Standards and Technology)
  • U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development
  • U.S. Department of Justice
  • U.S. Department of Labor
  • U.S. Department of State
  • U.S. Department of Treasury
  • U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

UMass Innovation Institute - (413) 577-8644

  • Industry Prop & Awards (P&As)