Research Development Series: A Conversation with Foundation Funders: Tips for Success

Eileen M. Spain

Program Director, 
Research Corporation for Science Advancement

Eileen Spain joined the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) as a program director in August 2023 to launch a new initiative aimed at increasing faculty excellence in the physical sciences. The program focuses on job search preparation and community-building for early career scientists.

Spain, a physical chemist, is a 1995 Cottrell Scholar and Carl F. Braun Professor of Chemistry emerita at Occidental College. She brings to RCSA a strong record of mentorship and professional development for students, postdoctoral researchers, and early career faculty from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

The newest addition to RCSA’s portfolio, the RCSA Fellows Initiative, launched in 2024. It is a three-year program designed for postdoctoral researchers in astronomy, chemistry, and physics during a pivotal phase of their careers: the year they prepare to apply for faculty positions, the year they actively interview, and their first year as independent faculty investigators.

The initiative supports participants by pairing them with host institutions for mock interviews and feedback before their job search begins. It also fosters a safe space for sharing experiences and building a lasting support network.

The RCSA Fellows Initiative joins RCSA’s signature programs—the Cottrell Scholars Program and Scialog—in advancing scientific excellence and collaboration.

Kevin Sia

Senior Program Officer for Medical Research,
Doris Duke Foundation

As senior program officer for medical research at the Doris Duke Foundation, Kevin Sia manages and evaluates competitive grant programs and contributes scientific expertise to strengthen relationships with current grantees.

Before joining the foundation in 2021, Sia was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Sloan Kettering Institute of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His research background is in immunology and microbiology, with a focus on vaccine immunity and antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Sia earned a doctorate in immunology and molecular pathogenesis from Emory University, where he trained at the Emory Vaccine Center.

Tammy Collins

Program Officer,
Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Tammy Collins is a program officer at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF), where she directs the Career Awards at the Scientific Interface and the Innovations in Regulatory Science Awards. She also serves on two forums of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM): the Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation, and the Forum on Regenerative Medicine.

Prior to joining BWF, Collins was the training director at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She was chair-elect of the NIH-wide Training Directors’ Committee and published research on postdoctoral scholar career outcomes in Nature Biotechnology. At NIEHS, she helped develop the Scientific Director’s Traineeship for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity, and served on the Trainee Subcommittee of the NIH UNITE initiative’s Anti-Racism Steering Committee.

A first-generation college student, Collins earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Appalachian State University, where she became the university’s first Goldwater Scholar. She earned a doctorate in biochemistry from Duke University and joined NIEHS as a postdoctoral researcher in 2009, where she developed her passion for fostering future scientific leaders.