URC Committee Members

URC Director

Kimberly Eck, MPH, PhD
Vice President for Research Strategy
Emory Research

URC Faculty Co-Directors

Eri Saikawa, PhD
Professor of Environmental Sciences
Emory College of Arts and Sciences

Guy Benian, MD
Professor of Cell Biology and Pathology
Emory School of Medicine

URC 2026 Subcommittee Co-Chairs

Arts

Meredith Schweig, PhD - Subcommittee Co-Chair
Associate Professor
ECAS: Music

Malinda Lowery, PhD - Subcommittee Co-Chair
Cahoon Family Professor of American History
ECAS: History

Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Bing Yao, PhD - Subcommittee Co-Chair
Associate Professor
SOM: Human Genetics

Homa Ghalei, MD - Subcommittee Co-Chair 
Associate Professor
SOM: Biochemistry

Humanities

Daniel LaChance, PhD – Subcommittee Co-Chair
Associate Professor
ECAS: History

Bayo Holsey, PhD - Subcommittee Co-Chair
Associate Professor
ECAS: Anthropology

Interdisciplinary

David Lynn, PhD – Subcommittee Co-Chair
Asa Griggs Candler Professor
ECAS: Biology

Holli A. Semeko, PhD – Subcommittee Co-Chair
Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Media and International Affairs and Professor
ECAS: Political Science

Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Matthias Chung, PhD - Subcommittee Co-Chair
Professor
ECAS: Mathematics

Public Health and Clinical Research

Matthew Magee, PhD - Subcommittee Co-Chair
Associate Professor
RSPH: Epidemiology

Madeleine Hackney, PhD - Subcommittee Co-Chair
Associate Professor
SOM: Medicine

Social Sciences

Kyungmin (Teddy) Kim, PhD – Subcommittee Co-Chair
Professor
ECAS: Economics

Tucker Balch, PhD - Subcommittee Co-Chair
Professor
Goizueta Business School: Practice and Research of Finance

Committee Members FAQs

Sub-committee members serve 36-month terms. In rare instances, a term may be extended for an additional 12 months upon recommendation of the subcommittee chair and approval by the URC co-Directors.

To avoid conflicts of interest (COI) associated with URC committee service, committee co-chairs cannot submit applications for funding to the subcommittees under their leadership during their URC term of service. However, subcommittee co-chairs may submit applications for URC funding to subcommittees outside their own leadership purview.

Full-time faculty interested in serving as a URC subcommittee member may do so by contacting the URC.  Subcommittee candidates may also be recommended by other members of the URC committee.  Names of interested faculty, and recommendations by other committee members, will be presented to the URC co-Directors for consideration.

Subcommittee members are full-time Emory faculty whose responsibilities to the URC involve the review and critique of proposals submitted for URC awards.  Depending upon which committee you serve, attendance may be required at one meeting of the full subcommittee for selection of proposals to be presented to the URC co-Directors for award consideration.