Office of Research Isabelle Girard Appointed New Director of the UC Davis Research Core Facilities Program - Office of Research

Isabelle Girard Appointed New Director of the UC Davis Research Core Facilities Program

Isabelle Girard Appointed New Director of the UC Davis Research Core Facilities Program

December 5, 2022

The University of California, Davis, Office of Research is pleased to announce the selection of Isabelle Girard as the new Director of the Research Core Facilities Program (RCFP).  Girard has been serving as Interim Director of the program since the beginning of this year.

The Research Core Facilities Program works to ensure the quality, accessibility, transparency and financial sustainability of research core facility operations for UC Davis.  The program not only enables university researchers to have access to the state-of-the-art technology for their scientific research, it also streamlines core facility administration while improving accountability and transparency.

“Isabelle has proven to be a very strong leader and contributor within our Research Core Facilities Program, and I am thrilled to see her assume the role of director,” said Prasant Mohapatra, vice chancellor for research at UC Davis.

Building Relationships and Strengthening the Program

Girard comes to the role with over a decade of experience in laboratory and research core facilities management.  Under her leadership at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the Campus Research Cores team transformed the landscape from a decentralized and disorganized shared resource collection lacking in definition, structure and trust, to a well-defined collaborative community of over 100 identified cores with high standards of practice and networks of communication and support.

At UC Davis, Girard served at the RCFP Program Manager for two years before stepping into the role of Interim Director.  As a key leader within the program, she has learned the campus ecosystem and core community and has developed collaborative relationships with stakeholders, a key to productive engagement.  As Interim Director, she has advanced best practices in core strategic planning and operations review, provided stability for cores in the Office of Research and promoted a critical review of strengths and needs in the current core program.

“Research cores and shared facilities are critical catalysts in the research and teaching missions of the university, and I look forward to working with our exceptional researchers, staff and leaders to advance the impact of cores for our investigators, students and partners,” said Girard. “Cores have been a key to enabling transformative discoveries, and it is exciting to support the development of knowledge for the public good.”

More about the Research Core Facilities Program

Born from the need for strategic funding and oversight of laboratories providing research services, the Research Core Facilities Program ensures a world-class research infrastructure at UC Davis that enables scientific excellence, technology development and outstanding innovations for researchers on campus and the scientific community.  The number of laboratories providing such service to university researchers has grown organically to include over 170 facilities across campus.  Learn more here.

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