Advisory Board
Tim Barnes
Executive Director International Partnerships and Research, University of Kentucky, Kentucky, USA
Tim Barnes has served as the Executive Director of International Partnerships and Research at the University of Kentucky since October, 2015. Prior to this role, he founded and served as the inaugural director of Illinois Strategic International Partnerships at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has 25 years of experience managing inter-institutional agreements and partnership portfolios for comprehensive, public research universities, and has published and presented on strategic transnational partnership development and management at national and international conferences.
Prof. Kanagaratnam “Bas” Baskaran, PhD
Pro Vice Chancellor – International Research Partnerships, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
Professor Baskaran is a strategic leader with significant experience in the development and delivery of international education and research partnerships. He one of the founding members of the School of Engineering, and actively involved in the development and delivery of several undergraduate and postgraduate programs in engineering. During his 30 years at Deakin University, he has served as the Head of School of Engineering, the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, the Foundation Chair in Civil Engineering in the School of Engineering, and the Associate Dean International & Partnerships for the Faculty of Science Engineering and Built Environment. In his current role, Professor Baskaran is now responsible for guiding, monitoring and overseeing the University’s International Research Strategy development and implementation in partnership with faculties and institutes.
Lakhdar Boukerrou, PhD
Director, International Programs and Global Initiatives, Florida International University, Florida, USA
Dr. Boukerrou serves as Director of International Programs and Global Initiatives and Research Professor in the College of Engineering and Computing, and Affiliate Faculty in the African and African Diaspora Studies at the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University. He has extensive experience, both in the US and abroad, in international development programs, partnership building skills, and institutional and human capacity building. He has managed programs in North America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Charmaine B. Dean, PhD
Vice-President, Research & International, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Dr. Dean provides strategic leadership in the areas of research and innovation, commercialization, and internationalization. She is also responsible for building strategic alliances and partnerships with other academic institutions, governments, businesses, and industries at the regional, national, federal, and international levels. Several key collaboration portfolios are managed by her office, including the university-level centres and institutes and several major industrial partnerships spanning various units in the university. She has drawn a focus to ethics and social impact related to technology developments through various initiatives and is a key driver for equity and diversity in the context of research and internationalization.
Adrian Collins, PhD
Associate Director for Research Collaboration, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Dr Collins is an experienced research strategist with extensive experience in supporting the development of collaborative research in Australia and internationally. Adrian has supported the establishment of bilateral research partnerships with agencies in Europe, the USA, China and India as well as with other universities and research institutes globally. His experience in the design and implementation of strategic research initiatives includes the development of supporting measures that enable researchers to access international programs and funding. In his current role, Adrian provides leadership for the development of new strategic programs that facilitate interdisciplinary research and collaboration with other universities, research institutes or organisations whether they are local, national or international.
William Effah, MD, MPH, CPH
Senior Manager, International Research Programs, Washington University School of Medicine, Missouri, USA
Dr Effeh is a Public health physician-scientist, with experience in the healthcare space, both in hospital and non-clinical, research and management settings internationally and in the USA. He is passionate about Implementation research focusing on Chronic/Infectious diseases and has experience in patient care and leading healthcare teams in West Africa. He has broad interests in areas such as dissemination and implementation science as it relates to infectious diseases, leveraging technology and health outcomes research.
Ismail Ibraheem, PhD
Director, Office of International Relations Partnerships and Prospects, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Professor of Journalism and Communication Studies and Director of International Relations, Partnership and Prospects (IRPP) at the University of Lagos, Dr Ibraheem is an innovative, dynamic and creative international education practitioner with over 28 years of cross-functional and cross-sector local and international experience. He has a proven ability to develop programs and organisations from scratch and he is is an astute manager, stewarding organisations, managing dynamic internal and external relations and making effective resourcing decisions to maximise impact.
Marilyn Kaplan, PhD
Associate Dean (Retired)
Dr Kaplan was a Clinical Professor and Associate Dean in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas where she coordinated international agreements since 2011. She retired from academia in 2022. She earned her doctorate at the University of Texas at Dallas and has an MBA from the University of Oklahoma. She has spent over 10 years in the corporate world, including working in Europe. Currently she is COO of a healthcare technology startup.
Aigerim Kaumenova, DBA
Vice Rector for Global Partnerships, Almaty Management University, Kazakhstan
Aigerim Kaumenova has experience in overseas higher education, partnership building and internationalisation policy making. She holds MA (University University of Aberdeen), MSc (University of Exeter) and DBA (Almaty Management University) degrees. Her research interest is on social entrepreneurship and international education. Aigerim holds an international award called the CEEMAN Champion Awards for promoting socially responsible management education. She is also the Board member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry France-Kazakhstan and a founding member and Chair of the Chapter Eurasia of the UN PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education).
Ted Knight
Director of Strategic Partnerships, University of Maryland, Maryland, USA
Ted Knight has over 20 years of experience in education leadership; partnerships with corporate, government, non-profit, and international organizations; research development; fundraising; communications; and strategic planning. He has developed partnerships to create innovative educational experiences and interdisciplinary research designed to achieve a positive impact on society. He began working at the University of Maryland in 2005, with roles in Engineering, Research, and Behavioral and Social Sciences. He holds an M.A. degree from American University and a B.A. from Washington College.
Asia Neupane, EdD
Director of Programs and Institutional Partnerships (Europe and Latin America), Yale University, Connecticut, USA
Asia has a joint appointment with Yale University’s Office of International Affairs and the Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. She is responsible for overseeing initiatives and partnerships related to Latin America and Europe. As the director of programs for the Councils on Latin American & Iberian Studies and European Studies at the Yale MacMillan Center, Asia also works closely with faculty, students, and visiting scholars. Her academic research focuses on networks and internationalization in higher education.
Kevin Paquette
Director of Programs and Partnerships with International Development Institute LLC
Mr. Paquette is a versatile international program management professional with nearly 20 years of success launching and growing programs in the non-profit and higher education sectors. He currently serves as Director of Programs and Partnerships with the International Development Institute LLC. Mr. Paquette recently served as Founder and Program Director for International Programs and Partnerships at Tufts University. In this capacity, he partnered with domestic and international stakeholders including international governments, universities, funding agencies, and alumni to develop new partnerships and international programs for the School of Arts and Sciences.
Maria Roitman
Senior Advisor, International Research Strategy, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Maria Roitman provides strategic leadership for the development of global partnerships and initiatives that add value to the University’s research. A multilingual communicator, she is experienced in working with academic institutions, governments, and research agencies to support high-quality and impactful collaborations across borders. In her role, Maria has set up strategic initiatives with partner institutions globally including in Europe, the UK, Canada, Israel, China, India, and Japan.
Sandra Russo, PhD
Director, Office for Global Research Engagement, University of Florida, Florida, USA
Dr. Sandra L. Russo is Director of the Office for Global Research Engagement (OGRE) in the International Center (UFIC) at the University of Florida where she facilitates faculty involvement in international and global research. An agronomist and animal nutritionist by training, her work has taken her primarily to Africa and the Middle East. Current projects focus on livestock, climate change adaptation, water resources management, food security, local and institutional capacity development, and gender.
Matthew P. Sherburne, PhD
Director International Partnerships, The University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Matthew P. Sherburne is a member of the Materials Science and Engineering department at the University of California, Berkeley. He also currently serves as the Director for International Partnerships for the College of Engineering and the Dado & Maria Banatao Center for Global Learning and Outreach and is a member of UC Berkeley’s campus wide International Activities Coordination Group (IACG). In these positions he oversees educational exchanges, the founding of research centers, scholar programs and international professional development efforts.
Best Practices in Global Research Collaboration
29-30 May, 2023, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada