Grant Coach Office Hours via ZOOM
Categories: Graduate Students, Postdocs
Have a question about your grant proposal? Meet 1:1 with our trained Grant Coaches to answer questions, find resources, obtain advice or evaluate draft documents.Grant Coach Office Hours are generally limited to 3 hours per trainee per year.
Request a meeting with a Grant Coach: Signup (click here)
A Grant Coach will follow up with you in 5-7 business days after the form is submitted.
Learn more about our Grant Coaches:
Dr. Amy Nippert is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford where she researches chronic pain. In both her graduate and postgraduate work, Amy has written multiple grants as well as served on informal grant study sections. In parallel to her academic writing, Amy has also focused on science communication, writing and editing articles for the general public. Amy is passionate about helping others achieve their writing goals. Starting from an undergraduate position as a writing tutor, she has continued to teach, mentor, and edit. As a grant coach, Amy is excited to help guide graduate students along the grant writing journey. In her spare time, Amy enjoys curling, ceramics, and reading science fiction.
Dr. Iris van ‘t Erve is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Diehn lab at Stanford University School of Medicine. She studies cell-free nucleic acids in the blood of cancer patients to personalize cancer treatments. Dr. van ‘t Erve’s research is funded by the Rubicon fellowship from the Dutch Research Council. The Falling Walls Foundation honored her as one of the top 20 female science talents of 2023. Beyond her primary research grant, Dr. van ‘t Erve has secured numerous grants and awards. Iris is passionate about teaching. Leveraging her expertise, she serves as a grant writing coach, guiding international graduate students and postdocs to success in their grant writing endeavors.
Dr. Troy Dildine is a NIDA T-32 Postdoctoral Scholar within the Pain Division at Stanford University School of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Sean Mackey. He received his PhD from the Graduate Partnership Program (GPP) between the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at the National Institutes of Health and the Clinical Neuroscience Department at Karolinska Institutet. Troy’s research is focused on identifying the influence of sociocultural factors on pain expression and pain assessment. With the help of the Jump Start award, Troy will be applying for an NIH K award to further his development and continue to advance his research in health equity.
Dr. Jordan Taylor Moore, a 2023 graduate of The Ohio State University’s Biomedical Engineering PhD Program, completed his graduate studies under the guidance of Dr. Daniel Gallego Perez. Currently a second-year postdoc at Stanford University, he is co-mentored by Drs. Sarah Heilshorn and Marion Buckwalter. His postdoctoral training focuses on developing injectable drug depots for blood-brain-barrier repair and immunomodulation following ischemic stroke. Jordan is a 2021 recipient of the NIH/NINDS DSPAN F99/K00 Award, a Stanford Propel Fellow, and was recently awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund PDEP award. In addition to his research, Jordan actively contributes to community wellness initiatives for underrepresented populations in STEM, through organizations such as the Stanford Black Postdoc Association and GLAM Inclusion Committee.
Dr. Brendan Ball is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Stanford University Department of Pathology, and his research involves systems biology and computational approaches to understand how cancer cells spread to other parts of the body. Prior to Stanford, Brendan pursued undergraduate studies in Chemical Engineering and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering. As a Grant Coach, Brendan is dedicated to supporting individuals achieve their writing and professional goals and has helped others prepare successful fellowship applications to the NSF, NIH, and external foundations. Outside of research, you will often find him playing soccer, hiking, or trying out the best food spots in town.
Dr. Brittany Bush is a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Giardino Lab) investigating sex differences in neurocircuitry involved in sleep regulation, stress response, and reward. She is a proud HBCU graduate, earning her BS in Biology from Savannah State University, as well as her, MS in biomedical research, MS in Clinical Research, and PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Bush is currently an HHMI 2024 Hanna Gray Postdoctoral Fellow, Propel Program Alumni, Co-President of the Stanford Black Postdoc Association and facilitator for the Pathways to Neuroscience Program. She is passionate about increasing minority representation in STEM and mentoring students of color interested in pursuing a STEM career. As a co-lead for the Seminar Series, Brittany combines her passion for mentoring diverse trainees with practical guidance on preparing strong grant application they can be proud of while managing the grant writing process with low stress. She is excited to share her tips and tricks to becoming a successful and effective grant writer.
Dr. Mekhala Dissanayake is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pediatrics. She received her PhD in Epidemiology at UNC Chapel Hill. As a public health researcher, her work is at the intersection of social epidemiology and health services research, focusing on how availability, accessibility, and quality of healthcare contribute to maternal health disparities. Her grant writing experience includes an R36 Dissertation Award as a doctoral student and an NIH Loan Repayment award for Health Disparities Research as a postdoc, the latter of which she developed in a Stanford proposal bootcamp. She hopes to support diverse groups of graduate students and postdocs in their grant writing process through her involvement in BIOS 432: Boost your Research Productivity With Design Thinking Tools. When she’s not writing grants, Mekhala is reading fantasy/science fiction novels, cooking, or playing pickleball.
Dr. Antonio Tomasso is postdoctoral scholar at Stanford Medicine – Department of Surgery. He is a recipient of the NWO/Dutch Research Council Rubicon grant and the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Global Fellowship, investigating the cellular and molecular drivers of tissue regeneration and fibrosis. His ultimate goal is to identify therapeutic targets enhancing organ and tissue repair after injury or disease. He earned his BSc and a MSc in Medical and Molecular Biotechnology from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, and a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Germany. Having conducted research across five countries, including at the Karolinska Institute, University of Kentucky and Hubrecht Institute, he brings a deep foundation in regenerative medicine, molecular biology and translational research. He has gained extensive experience writing and securing competitive grants and has developed a practical toolbox of strategies for navigating the challenges of grant applications. As a Grant Coach, he is committed to sharing what he has learned, best practices and common pitfalls to help students and postdocs strengthen their applications, particularly for international grants, and achieve their professional goals. Beyond the lab, he enjoys hiking, ballroom and bachata, working out and exploring Bay area cafes in search of the best espresso.
Dr. Chelse Spinner is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Dr. Suzan Carmichael (Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine), with the Stanford Center for Promoting Improvement in Hemorrhage-related Severe Maternal Morbidity (PRIHSM). Her research utilizes quantitative and qualitative methods to understand drivers of hemorrhage, as well as explore social and structural factors that impact maternal health and well-being. She is passionate about addressing health disparities primarily impacting diverse communities. She is a 2025 recipient of the NIH/NICHD Loan Repayment Program (LRP) in Health Disparities Research award. As a Grant Coach, Chelse will be co-teaching the Grant Writing Academy’s Seminar Series by demystifying the grant writing process, sharing expertise, and fostering an inclusive and supportive writing community. She is excited to contribute as an active member of the grant writing community by providing meaningful feedback to graduate students and other postdoctoral fellows. In her free time, she enjoys socializing with family and friends, reading, listening to music, and watching movies.
Dr. Cameron Bader is a postdoctoral scholar and immunologist in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Stanford University. His graduate studies investigated the role of the innate immune sensor STING in murine models of graft-versus-host disease and bone marrow transplantation. In his postdoctoral training, he has continued to investigate novel strategies to augment hematopoietic cell transplantation as a cure for cancer, to improve solid organ transplantation, and to prevent neurodegenerative disease with animal models and bioinformatic approaches in humans. Cameron has been the recipient of NIH F31 and F99/K00 fellowships and is now funded by a K99/R00 career development award which will support his transition to an independent tenure-track faculty position. Cameron is passionate about mentorship and teaching and is excited to apply his experience towards developing novel tools to help prospective grant writers identify required documents, develop a timeline, and track progress towards their targeted grant mechanism. Outside of science, Cameron enjoys spending time with his wife, dogs (Max and Izzy), and experimenting with new ingredients in the kitchen.
Dr. Kate MacDonald is a cell biologist and children’s author, conducting her postdoctoral research fellowship in the Cimprich lab at Stanford. She holds a PhD in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto and a BS in Cell Biology from the University of British Columbia, where she was an undergraduate peer mentor for second- and third-year biology students. She is the author of science books for curious kids, including fiction (Izzy Steam, Bookpress, 2026) and non-fiction (Why Trust a Scientist?, Orca Book Publishers, 2026). Kate is the founder of Zoom a Grad Student, a virtual outreach program that connects high schoolers with life science graduate students, to learn about science careers and how to navigate life as a young adult. You can find her on TikTok sharing her life as a scientist and writer as @katemacdonaldphd.