Adler and Naiman selected for 2024 NIH Grant Writing Series program

Rachel Adler
Rachel Adler, Associate Professor
Jill Neiman
Jill Naiman, Teaching Assistant Professor

Associate Professor Rachel Adler and Teaching Assistant Professor Jill Naiman have been selected for the 2024 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant Writing Series program in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI). Led by faculty who have demonstrated a history of success with NIH proposals, the biennial NIH Grant Writing Series is designed to prepare Illinois faculty to submit their first R01 or other individual investigator proposals to the NIH.

Selected participants attend six weekly lecture/discussion sessions addressing various aspects of the submission process, followed by a peer review workshop. Loosely modeled after a study section with the cohort acting as reviewers, the workshop allows participants to experience being on a review panel while receiving peer feedback for their Specific Aims page. With the mentorship of an experienced faculty member throughout the program, each participant writes and compiles an advanced draft of an NIH proposal that has been reviewed by their peers and faculty mentor.

Applicants are nominated by a dean, department head, or director and chosen by the NIH Grant Writing Series Selection Committee. Early-career faculty are selected based on demonstrated level of need, anticipated benefits of completing the program, how likely they will be engaged, and if they will be actively working on an NIH proposal during the program. The Selection Committee strives to select from a range of disciplines and backgrounds based on personal statements from the nominees and recommendations of the nominator.

Adler's research interests are in human-computer interaction, accessibility, and computer science education. She is particularly interested in designing applications for and with people with disabilities. She earned her PhD in computer science from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Naiman teaches and researches methods for efficient and engaging data visualization in technological fields. She earned her PhD in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Aubin Le Quéré to join the faculty

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Marianne Aubin Le Quéré will join the faculty as an assistant professor in August 2026, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Aubin Le Quéré is a PhD candidate in the Department of Information Science at Cornell University. For the 2025-2026 academic year, she will be a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy.

Marianne Aubin Le Quere

Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub wins Synergy Award

The Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub (MBDH) has won the Synergy Award from the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST). The MBDH is a partnership of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University, Iowa State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, and the University of North Dakota. It is part of the National Science Foundation’s regional Big Data Innovation Hubs program that comprises offices in the Midwest, West, South, and the Northeast. 

Kelly Desino, scientific director of AbbVie's Community of Science, presenting the Synergy Award from the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) to Professor Cathy Blake.

Han defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Yingying Han successfully defended her dissertation, "Community Archives as Agency: Documenting Chinese American Experiences in the U.S.,” on May 28.

Yingying Han

New project improves accessibility of health information through AI

Assistant Professor Yue Guo has received a $30,000 Arnold O. Beckman Research Award from the U of I Campus Research Board for her project, "Optimizing Personalization in Plain Language Summaries: Comparing Predictive and Interactive Approaches for Tailored Health Information." 

Yue Guo