Leadership
Senior Management
William F. Greenlee, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
William F. Greenlee, Ph.D. is president and chief executive officer of The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, and chief executive officer and chairman of the Health Research and Education Foundation at The Hamner. Based in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina, The Hamner is an independent, nonprofit organization that unites academia, the private sector, and government to conduct translational research for improved human health assessments and the development of new and safer medicines.
The Hamner answers the FDA's Critical Path Initiative - an effort to stimulate and facilitate the modernization of the scientific process through which a potential human drug, diagnostic agent, or medical device is transformed from a discovery or "proof of concept" into a medical product. Dr. Greenlee is the visionary behind The Hamner and has spent his professional career treading intertwining paths of academe and translational research for the advancement of public health.
Helen N. Schinkel, M.B.A.
Vice President of Finance and Operations
Helen N. Schinkel, is CFO and Vice President of Operations of The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences (The Hamner). She serves on The Hamner board as Assistant Treasurer. She also serves on the Health Research and Education Foundation board as Treasurer and Secretary. Schinkel received a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Master's in Business Administration from the Wake Forest University Babcock School of Management.
Schinkel was a Consultant with Deloitte Haskins and Sells in their Health Care Division. She then joined RJR Nabisco as a Financial Analyst and was later promoted to Brand Controller. After five years with RJR Nabisco, she was recruited by Revlon, Inc. to transition their US Corporate Operations Finance Group from New Jersey to North Carolina. While at Revlon, she served as Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, Controller and Vice-President of Operations Finance, Revlon Worldwide.
Rick Williams
Chief Business Officer
Rick Williams is the Chief Business Officer at The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, based in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. The Hamner is an independent, nonprofit organization that includes the CIIT, formerly CIIT Centers for Health Research, a leader in environmental safety research for more than 30 years, and the new Institute for Translational Biomedical Sciences. As a member of the executive team, Williams supports The Hamner’s mission to collaborate with academia, the private sector, and government to conduct translational research and new educational programs, both of which are designed to improve human health assessments and the development of safer medical treatments.
As Chief Business Officer, Williams will also pilot and launch a translational medicine accelerator to create additional opportunities for universities, The Hamner, and other research institutions to transfer technologies and spin out new companies, thereby providing greater benefit to society. Working in conjunction with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, and university business schools and entrepreneurial programs, Williams will provide guidance to emerging companies as they develop their initial technology, commercialization, and funding plans.
Melvin E. Andersen, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Computational Biology
Melvin Ernest Andersen, Ph.D. is the director of the Computational Biology Division; director of the Long Range Research Initiative of the American Chemistry Council; and senior science advisor of the Center for Human Health Assessment at CIIT at The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Dr. Andersen guides research directions, mentors staff and ensures the adequate reporting of results at The Hamner. As director of the Computational Biology Division, he imparts a computational systems biology emphasis to dose-response assessments for the health effects of environmental chemicals. The systems biology approach is characterised by an iterative cycle of theory, computational modelling and experimentation to quantitatively describe cells or cell processes. His current research interests include the development of mathematical descriptions of control of cellular circuitry and the dose response and risk assessment implications of perturbations of these circuits.
Sheila Collins, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Translational Biology
Sheila Collins, Ph.D. is director of Translational Biology and the Program in Endocrine Biology as well as a senior investigator at The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Dr. Collins' principal area of research is fat cell metabolism as it relates to diabetes and obesity. She studies why the normal metabolic processes at the cellular and tissue levels become disturbed in obese states and how adrenaline communicates to cells the need to mobilize stored fat.
Dr. Collins' research grant history includes a number of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association. She has also been the recipient of various pharmaceutical research contracts and gifts.
Darol E. Dodd., Ph.D.
Director, Division of Toxicology and Preclinical Studies
Darol E. Dodd, Ph.D. is a Senior Research Toxicologist at CIIT at The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Dr. Dodd provides leadership and coordination of applied toxicology research projects and supports marketing efforts for new business opportunities for the Institutes. He is also the Director of Research and Support Services at The Hamner. With more than 25 years of experience in toxicology and health hazard assessments, Dr. Dodd focuses his expertise in the area of inhalation toxicology.
Dr. Dodd conducts research on the toxic effects of xenobiotics on laboratory animals or cell systems. A xenobiotic is a chemical foreign to a given biologic system. During a typical workweek, Dr. Dodd plans and carries out in vivo and in vitro laboratory experiments, following good laboratory practice standards and operating procedures. He spends his time in data analysis, writing reports and scientific papers, presenting the findings, and researching the scientific literature. Providing leadership and support for proposal projects for new research contracts is another of Dr. Dodd's main functions at The Hamner Institutes. He enjoys building teams and acting as a spokesperson, and he has had an impact on the careers of predoctoral and postdoctoral scholars who have worked with him on research projects.