Noyes named associate dean

Katia Noyes, professor and director of the Division of Public Health Services Policy and Practice, School of Public Health and Health Professions, has been named associate dean for translational and team science in the school.

This new position was developed to help grow extramural research in the school and across the university by providing additional support to faculty developing large center grants and training programs.

In her new role, Noyes will work with Dean Jean Wactawski-Wende and the SPHHP leadership team, associate dean for research and department chairs to shape the vision, strategic direction and implementation of a cross-disciplinary, team-based translational and outcomes research portfolio across all SPHHP departments.

“Dr. Noyes is the perfect professional to fill this role,” Wactawski-Wende says. “She is well-versed in the skills necessary to bring researchers together, encourage their collaboration and strengthen their ability to develop meaningful research projects that will attract federal funding.”

Noyes’ duties will include:

• Fostering new collaborations between research and clinical faculty within and across SPHHP decanal units by supporting new research teams aiming to establish innovative, cross-disciplinary research programs and helping faculty secure large, externally funded translational research centers.
• Creating an environment, formal structure and processes to facilitate multidisciplinary research efforts in the school.
• Mentoring junior faculty in team and translational science in coordination with existing mentoring committee structures within departments and supported by strategic partnerships with well-established research groups across UB.

“Ultimately, Dr. Noyes will be a key player in driving the school’s and UB’s ambition to be a Top 25, public AAU university,” Wactawski-Wende says.

Noyes currently serves as team science and workforce development core director of UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Team-based research — in which interdisciplinary investigators work together on a project that none can complete without the help of others — is a tenet for researchers affiliated with CTSI. As a health services researcher, Noyes has many years of experience and passion toward multidisciplinary collaboration. In the past 10 years, she has specialized in developing and implementing multidisciplinary interventions, and has successfully built and trained interdisciplinary project teams supported by a variety of federal and private sources.

“The short- and long-term goals of this position are designed to sharpen our research focus and build supportive processes that will grow our research portfolio and propel UB SPHHP into the top tier of schools of public health,” Noyes says. “I am grateful for the opportunity and very excited to begin this work with my UB colleagues.”