Staff

Beth Hodges
Director

2019 Westcott North Annex
(850) 644-2257  |  bhodges@fsu.edu

As Director of the Research Development team in Florida State University Office of Research, Beth is responsible for the overall activities conducted by the office. Beth joined the FSU Office of Research in 1997, after serving for several years as a US Congressional staff member. Beth was brought on to assist with federal activities, and, as priorities changed, became increasingly more involved in faculty services.  Meeting and working with faculty to aid them with funding identification and bringing groups together to discuss research interests, she laid the groundwork for what was soon to be a research development effort by the Vice President for Research.  In 2013, Beth was tapped to become the director of Research Development.  Since its inception until now, RD has worked with hundreds of faculty to support their efforts to secure extramural research funding and initiate and nurture critical partnerships throughout the institutional research enterprise.

Rachel Goff-Albritton
Assistant Director

2022 Westcott North Annex
(850) 644-3044  |  r.goffalbritton@fsu.edu

Dr. Rachel Goff-Albritton serves as the Assistant Director of Research Advancement and Mentoring on the Florida State University Research Development team and leads the FSU Research Mentor Academy. 

Rachel supports strategic research advancement at FSU by collaborating with institutional leadership to identify FSU research priorities (strengths and opportunities). Additionally, she works primarily with early-career faculty, providing valuable resources to help faculty with individualized research development strategy. Rachel helps faculty across all career-levels navigate research services and contacts across campus and through external partnerships.  She works with colleagues from state-wide and national research development associations and agencies to develop resources and best practices to assist FSU researchers. Rachel earned a doctoral degree from the University of South Florida, a master’s degree at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and her Bachelors of Arts at Florida State University, in Communication Sciences and Disorders.  Rachel also worked clinically as a speech-language pathologist for eleven years, providing rehabilitation and educational resources to individuals with aphasia, a language disorder acquired after a stroke or brain injury. She continues to support aphasia research. Rachel has a passion for laying a foundation for sustainable research growth at FSU. 

Nicole Fearnbach Viverito
Program Director, Proposal & Research Development
Health & Life Sciences Specialist

2021 Westcott North Annex
850-645-0797  |  nviverito@fsu.edu

Dr. Nicole Fearnbach Viverito specializes in research development for the Health and Life Sciences, with an emphasis on increasing competitiveness of grant proposals to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other health-oriented funding agencies. In this regard, she coordinates the NIH Mock Review Panel Program and supports collaborative initiatives for FSU Health. She also leads the coordination of proposal development resources and services across the RD team.

Prior to joining the Research Development team, Nicole was an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Sciences Division at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. She received postdoctoral training in clinical obesity research with an emphasis on pediatrics. During her graduate work, she was a USDA NIFA fellow in nutrition and human development. But her scientific career started here at Florida State with a bachelor's degree in exercise science and a minor in psychology. During that time, Nicole was a member of the FSU Flying High Circus and remains involved through alumni relations and fundraising efforts to continue the program's legacy.

Tracy A. Ippolito
Program Director, Strategic Research Advancement

2022 Westcott North Annex/253 Mechanical Research Bldg.
(850) 644-1315  |  tippolito@fsu.edu

As Program Director of Strategic Research Advancement, Dr. Tracy Ippolito works campus-wide with FSU faculty pursuing external funding for large-scale, interdisciplinary, collaborative projects of strategic institutional importance. Tracy brings extensive experience building and supporting teams comprised of academicians, industry representatives, governmental agencies, and community stakeholders. As a doctoral student in the FSU School of Communication, Tracy's research focused on interpersonal communication in the context of collaborative research teams and the science of team science.

Grace Adkison Hudack
Program Manager: FSU Council on Research and Creativity

2023 Westcott North Annex
(850) 645-5751  |  gadkison@fsu.edu

Grace Adkison serves as the Council on Research and Creativity Program Manager, and has been with the RD team since July 2016. As the CRC Program Manager, Grace is responsible for facilitating meetings of the Council, and assists them by educating faculty and staff on the research funding programs provided by the CRC. She also provides administrative oversight to awardees of these programs. Grace is your “go-to” person for all things CRC, be it submissions, revisions, no cost extensions, or any other issue or question you may have.  

Carolyn Bradley
Research Development Coordinator
Arts & Humanities Specialist

2020 Westcott North Annex
850-644-7730  |  cbradley@fsu.edu

Dr. Carolyn Bradley serves on FSU Research Development team as both the Research Development Coordinator for the Arts and Humanities and the Limited Submissions Coordinator. She focuses on growing grants and creative activity in the Arts and Humanities by promoting funding opportunities, assisting faculty with proposals, and hosting workshops. She also facilitates limited submissions for FSU. She is passionate about research, and is driven to help FSU faculty members make their research dreams a reality.

Prior to coming to FSU, Carolyn worked as a staff member for the University of Florida’s Southern HIV and Alcohol Research Consortium (SHARC) Center. She earned a PhD and Master’s degree in English literature from the University of Florida, and a BA in English from Vassar College. She loves to travel, and spent two years teaching English in southern Spain after college, and also studied abroad in Florence, Italy as an undergraduate. In her free time, she can be found reading fiction and poetry, taking long walks, and playing with her family’s cuddly puppy, Layla.

Cynthia Norris
Research Development Coordinator
Science & Technology Specialist

2020 Westcott North Annex
(850) 644-9511  |  cunorris@fsu.edu

Dr. Cynthia Norris leads research development for the Science and Technology disciplines, emphasizing increasing the competitiveness of grant proposals for the National Science Foundation and other STEM-oriented funding agencies. Before joining the Research Development team, Cynthia was a Research Training Fellow with the Florida Center for Reading Research, where her research focused on contextual and behavioral factors that influence and predict the development of reading skills and responsiveness to intervention in grades K-12. Her work emphasizes using advanced statistical methods to answer key questions addressing contemporary education and public health issues. In addition to her graduate training, Cynthia has a professional background in public health in the public sector.

W. Jared Parmer
Research Development Coordinator
Social Sciences Specialist

2025 Westcott North Annex
wjp082@fsu.edu

Sherry Core
Program Coordinator: FSU Council on Research and Creativity

2025 Westcott North Annex
(850) 645-9306  |  sbcore@fsu.edu

Sherry Core serves as the Council on Research and Creativity Program Coordinator, and has been with the RD team since April 2024. As the CRC Program Coordinator, Sherry is responsible for administration and management of a portion of the internal funding programs. She reviews proposals for technical issues, assists with the maintenance of the online proposal submission system and website, prepares communications, reports, programmatic recommendations, presentations, and workshops for faculty, staff, and university leadership. She also assists with Limited Submissions.

Prior to joining the Research and Development team, Sherry was a Communications Coordinator and Graphic Design Artist for the Florida Geographic Alliance, a team within FSU which promotes K-12 geography education in the state of Florida. She assisted teachers with geography resources, the Florida Giant Travelling Map program, workshops, communications, maintained the FGA social media accounts, FGA websites, and facilitated the Florida Schools GIS StoryMap Competition.