SPHERE Leadership Team

Victoria Hallinan, Ph.D., is the Program Manager at the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs at Yale University, where she designs and implements programming to support postdocs and postgraduates in their professional development and career trajectory. Trained as an interdisciplinary historian with a professional background in higher ed administration and educational development, Victoria brings these experiences to bear in considering the variety of needs postdocs may have and identifying opportunities for networking and collaboration. 

Paola Cépeda, Ph.D., is the Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis. She is a national leader and expert on issues related to international scholars, postdoctoral policy, postdoc mentoring, and gender representation in science. Dr. Cepeda also has a strong record of designing successful career and professional development programs for postdoctoral researchers as well as mentor and advising training for their faculty supervisors.

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Natalie Chernets, Ph.D., is the Director of Postdoctoral Affairs and Professional Development and Associate Director of MD/Ph.D. program at Drexel University. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and did three distinct postdocs at Thomas Jefferson University, where she was an officer in their postdoctoral association. Before rejoining Drexel University, Dr. Chernets was the first Administrative Postdoctoral Fellow at Jefferson College of Biomedical Sciences Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Thomas Jefferson University, where she developed a passion for enhancing career-related training for postdocs and graduate students. One of her signature initiatives was founding the Mentors in Motion program, an informal networking opportunity for Jefferson students and postdoctoral fellows while engaging in healthy physical activity. With multidisciplinary training in Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Biomedical Sciences, Natalie excels at drawing ideas from multiple disciplines and enjoys creating opportunities by connecting different people.