Administration & Operations

Science Communication Manager
Benjamin Boettner, Ph.D.
Benjamin is a Science Communication Manager at the Wyss Institute covering the breadth of the Institute’s research and translation efforts. Using various forms of communication, including press releases, research highlights, and content to be used in strategic and philanthropic outreach, he conveys early-stage fundamental scientific breakthroughs and enabling technologies, as well as milestones in their...
Editorial Content Manager
Lindsay Brownell, M.S.
Lindsay is an Editorial Content Manager at the Wyss Institute, where she writes and edits press releases, announcements, feature stories, technology pages, internal documents, and other science-related content. She also coordinates media and interview requests, pitches stories to journalists, liaises with the Wyss Institute’s partner institutions, and facilitates communications training seminars for Wyss members. Her...
Senior Compliance Officer
Katrin Duevel, Ph.D.
Katrin oversees research compliance at the Wyss Institute, including financial conflicts of interest and export controls. Before joining the Wyss Institute in April 2018, she served as Research Compliance Officer at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Her responsibilities included export controls...
Senior Director of HR & Faculty Affairs
Deirdre Hume, SHRM-SCP
Deirdre oversees the Human Resources function at the Wyss Institute. She has more than 15 years of experience working in Human Resources in a variety of sectors including corporate, academia, and healthcare. Before joining the Wyss in 2018, Deirdre was the Human Resource Manager at Norwell Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice where she had responsibility...
Director of Facilities
Katie Jenkins
Katie oversees the facilities and planning function at the Wyss Institute. This includes maintaining a relationship with the overall building management team and ensuring there are no issues with the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, or life safety systems throughout the Wyss floors. Before joining the Wyss in 2021, Katie gained experience working in scientific labs as...
Senior Director of Strategic Communications
Alexandra E. Jirstrand
Alexandra Jirstrand oversees the strategic communications team at the Wyss Institute, and is an executive with more than 20 years of brand strategy, corporate communications, and media relations experience. Prior to joining the Wyss Institute, Alexandra was the Chief Communications Officer at Valisure, a pharma biotech company in New Haven, CT, and helped lead the...
Associate Director of Communications
Seth Kroll
Seth Kroll is the Wyss Institute Associate Director of Communications where he is oversees multimedia production, facilitates press inquiries, and manages special projects supporting administrative and research teams. Seth oversaw the Wyss Institute’s 2016 website redesign, which won two Webby Awards and one W3 Award. Prior to joining the Wyss Institute in 2013, Seth produced...
Director, Information Technology
Clinton Mann
Clinton oversees all information technology-based systems at the Wyss Institute. His experience spans more than twenty years in all facets of Information Technology across commercial, scientific, government, defense, non-profit, and academic environments. Throughout his career he has worn many hats, which have given him a unique perspective and a thorough understanding of diverse technologies that...
Director of Research Administration
Keleigh Quinn
Keleigh is the Director of Research Administration at the Wyss, overseeing the Sponsored Team and providing support for the Institute on all matters related to Sponsored Research. This includes liaising with the Harvard Office of Sponsored Programs, ensuring compliance with all applicable policies and regulatory requirements, and advising on issues related to sponsored research and...
Senior Director of Research Operations
Robert Rasmussen, Ph.D.
Robert oversees the entire biosafety program at the Wyss Institute. His work includes making full biosafety risk assessments of all Institute projects involving human and animal biologicals, and recombinant and synthetic genetic material; he also ensures the experiments will be done in compliance with NIH guidelines, OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard, and all state and local...
Director of Clinical Research, Director of the CTRC
Dionna O. Roberts Williams, M.S., M.P.H.
Dionna oversees the clinical research portfolio at the Wyss Institute and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). She supports the Institute, SEAS, and their collaborators, partners, and federal sponsoring agencies on all clinical studies in accordance with federal, state, local and institutional guidelines, policies, and procedures. Dionna maintains HIPAA...