Sara Cohen
Yonkers,NY
Summary
Dynamic Grant Specialist with a proven track record at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, excelling in research administration and partnership building. Increased departmental submission timeliness for internal deadlines from 49% in FY 23 to 87% in FY 24, then 100% in the first quarter of FY 25. Excels in project management and communication, adept at leading cross-functional teams to meet objectives. Team player who consistently volunteers for institutional and departmental projects, and leadership roles.
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
Work History
Grant Specialist
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
06.2023 - Current
- Provide comprehensive pre-award support for grant applications, including developing non-scientific documents, and leading budget development.
- Maintain an organized system for tracking and communicating internal and external deadlines.
- Coordinate the collection of necessary documents from collaborators
- Manage grant submissions through the internal system to the system program.
- Serve as a key resource for PIs, and administrators on sponsor requirements and policy.
- Developed a presentation on department proposal success rates over a five-year period, benchmarking against NIH paylines and success rates, as well as similar departments, and the institution as a whole.
- Complete ad hoc grant deliverables, such as JIT requests, no-cost extension requests, RPPRs, IRPPRs, facilitating post-submission materials, closeouts, and others.
Project Associate
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
02.2022 - 06.2023
- Collaborated with students, faculty, and program managers in the Neuroscience Institute, and the Center for Neural Science, to coordinate joint graduate program activities.
- Led graduate class administration, including reserving rooms, maintaining the online class platform, coordinating with faculty presenters, distributing pre- and post-class materials, facilitating exams, submitting grades, providing student feedback, and other activities.
- Managed complex, sensitive data, maintaining accurate records of current students, and alumni.
- Assisted in the planning and facilitation of multiple recruitment events for over 100 students each. This included organizing travel for all recruits, reserving spaces for events, coordinating activities with student volunteers, organizing catering, and collecting post-event feedback surveys.
Parent Coach
Power of Two
07.2020 - 02.2022
- Maintained a caseload of up to 15 clients, facilitating the 10-week Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up program.
- Contributed to rewriting the organization's core values as a select member of a cross-functional team.
- Created a parent-coach toolkit to organize tasks and streamline processes, which became one of the organization's onboarding resources for Parent Coaches.
Graduate Research Intern
NYC Medical Insurance and Community Service Administration
09.2019 - 05.2020
- Developed a client language survey for NYC Medicaid offices to ensure that appropriate accommodations were available.
- Analyzed data reporting systems, providing comprehensive findings for database corrections.
- Conducted site visits to observe and report on client experience.
- Supported senior analysts on projects through qualitative and quantitative research.
Public Policy Generalist Summer Intern
The Salvation Army, National Headquarters
06.2019 - 08.2019
- Established the first nationwide database of Salvation Army rehabilitation centers
- Represented the Salvation Army in advocacy visits to Capitol Hill and coalition meetings
- Analyzed and reported on proposed federal legislation to support advocacy on Capitol Hill
Graduate Research Intern
NYC HRA Office of Evaluation and Research
03.2019 - 06.2019
- Completed data cleaning, analysis, and presentation for the first evaluation of the Fair Fares Program
- Contributed to research and evaluations for New York City social service programs
- Facilitated focus group activity and conducted subsequent data analysis
Education
Master of Public Administration - Policy Analysis Specialization
NYU Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service
01.2021
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology
University of South Florida
01.2017
Skills
- Research Administration
- Project Management
- Data analysis and management
- Communication
- Organizational skills
- Partnership building
- Problem-solving
- Attention to detail
- Documentation and reporting
- Customer service
Skills Summary
Extensive experience in pre-award support, budget development, and compliance with funding guidelines. Skilled in managing grant applications, gathering required documents, and ensuring timely submissions., Proven ability to plan and coordinate program activities, including events, symposia, and recruitment initiatives. Adept at maintaining accurate records and creating detailed reports., Proficient in statistical analysis using SPSS, Stata, and Excel. Strong skills in database management, data entry, analysis, and reporting., Effective communicator with the ability to proactively convey application processes and deadlines to stakeholders. Experience in collaborating with cross-functional teams and acting as a resource for research communities., Advanced user of Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook) and Google Workspace (Docs, Drive, Sheets, Slides). Knowledgeable in Adobe InDesign and Illustrator., Strong organizational abilities demonstrated through the creation and maintenance of toolkits, document repositories, and efficient workflow processes.
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Grant Specialist
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
06.2023 - Current
Project Associate
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
02.2022 - 06.2023
Parent Coach
Power of Two
07.2020 - 02.2022
Graduate Research Intern
NYC Medical Insurance and Community Service Administration
09.2019 - 05.2020
Public Policy Generalist Summer Intern
The Salvation Army, National Headquarters
06.2019 - 08.2019
Graduate Research Intern
NYC HRA Office of Evaluation and Research
03.2019 - 06.2019
Master of Public Administration - Policy Analysis Specialization
NYU Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology
University of South Florida