Our Team | Office of Research | UC Davis School of Medicine

Director of Research Administration
chjwang@ucdavis.edu

Christopher serves as the director of our Research Administration Unit. As director, he oversees the unit's daily operations, which provides resources to departments and centers within the School of Medicine, such as pre-award services, training for research administrators, and hosts quarterly research administration networking meetings. Christopher has over 20 years of experience in research administration, serving as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Center for Precision Medicine and Data Sciences, as well as serving as the research manager and creating research administration infrastructure for various departments at the UC Davis School of Medicine. He has also worked at the UC Davis Office of Research Sponsored Programs, reviewing and negotiating research proposals, clinical trials, contracts, and agreements.

Chris has been involved in many research committees at UC Davis Health and holds a national certification in research administration. He has Bachelor's degrees in both Finance and Media Arts and Animation. He is a graduate of the Sacramento State M.B.A. program. In his free time, Chris enjoys traveling with his family, cooking and exploring different recipes, and working on cars.

Trainer/Program Manager
jnnsanchez@ucdavis.edu

Jennifer is the program manager for the Research Administration Unit. She is responsible for providing high-level program and project management and operational support for the unit. She is developing a school-wide research administration training program and will be the trainer for the program upon its launch. She will host the quarterly research administration networking meetings and hopes they will provide an inclusive space for anyone involved in research administration to ask questions, share best practices, and network with colleagues. Jennifer has over ten years of project management experience, including five years at UC Davis Health in an academic research department. She earned her Project Management Certificate Program online through UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education and sees the value in inclusive, cohort-based training experiences. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys being outdoors with her family and improving her baking skills.

Research Administrator 4
mannguyen@ucdavis.edu

Matt has been in research administration at UC Davis for 22 years. He has worked in the central office (Sponsored Programs Office, Davis campus) and the departments on both Davis and Sacramento campuses. He is very knowledgeable in pre- and post-award processes and policies. As the research administrator on the School of Medicine Research Administration Team, he will support School of Medicine departments with pre-award services and assist with training new research administrators. Outside of work, Matt enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, and working on home renovation projects.

Research Space and Funding Data Analyst/Research Administrator
tlolineka@ucdavis.edu

Tammi Olineka joined the Research Administration (RA) Unit in July of 2024. She has over twenty years of research and research administration experience with UC Davis (UCD) and UC Davis Health (UCDH). She is responsible for assisting with the next steps of the implementation of the updated SOM Research Space Policy by helping with the development of the funding assessment process. She is also involved in providing support to the centralized pre-award support team as well as other strategic support programs such as the RA training program.

During her twenty plus years with UCD/UCDH, she has worked in several SOM OR units as well as OVCR IRSI, been involved in and/or supported several research committees, managed a recharge facility and an individual lab. She has a Bachelor’s in biotechnology and an MBA. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, taking photos and exploring outdoors.    

Research Administrator 4 
dllim@ucdavis.edu

Debbie began her career working in basic science laboratories, first on the Davis campus and later as a Staff Research Associate at UCD Health. Before transitioning to the research administration field, she acquired over 20 years of laboratory management experience including developing new research protocols, training laboratory personnel, and writing/editing/submitting grants. Debbie brings this depth of bench to grant proposal experience to her position as a research administrator on the School of Medicine Research Administration team, providing pre-awards support to departments in the School of Medicine. Outside of work, Debbie can be found reading science fiction and fantasy, occasionally attempting new cooking or home improvement hacks from YouTube videos and spending time with family, friends and her pets.

Executive Assistant
tahuff@ucdavis.edu

Tracy brings over 15 years of administrative experience to our unit. She has been with UC Davis Health for three years, most recently in the Urologic Surgery department, where she supported faculty and wore many hats. She joined the Office of Research as an administrative assistant in October 2023. Tracy provides administrative support to the Research Administration Unit director, operational support for the research administration program, and assists with organizing the quarterly research administration meeting. She also provides backup support for some of the other units within the department, as needed. Before joining UC Davis Health, Tracy spent 13 years working for a sole proprietor who researched and filed UCCs, liens, and judgments. Away from work, she likes to spend time with family and share her love of paper crafting with others.