Key Personnel

Rafael E. Bahamonde, Ph.D.
Program Director
Tel: 317-274-2344
Email: rbahamon@iu.edu
Office: PE255

Rafael Bahamonde, Ph.D., will serve as the IPREP Program Director. Dr. Bahamonde is the Founding Dean in the School of Health & Humans Sciences and is a Professor of Kinesiology. He is the Co-Chair of the Education committee and member of the Steering Committee of the Indiana Center for Muscuslskleta Health. He has served as a mentor in multiple undergraduate research programs such as Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), McNair Scholars Program, Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP), University Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and the HBCU STEM. He was the director of the Diversity Scholar Research Program (DSRP) at IU Indianapolis from 2006-2008. He was the Co-PI of the NIH-funded IU Indianapolis Bridges to the Baccalaureate and serves as a member of the center of the management team for the NSF-funded Louis Stokes Midwest Regional Center of Excellence and was the chair of the diversity committee for American Kinesiology Association.

Randall J Roper, Ph.D.
Program Co-Director
Tel: 317-274-8131
Email: rjroper@iu.edu
Office: LD 220D

Randall J. Roper, Ph.D. will serve as the IPREP Co-Director. Dr. Roper is the Founding Director of the IU Indianapolis Graduate Mentoring Center ( https://graduate.indianapolis.iu.edu/support/gmc/index.html) and is Professor of Genetics in the Department of Biology. He has an active research laboratory that investigates how genes in three copies in individuals with Trisomy 21 cause skeletal and neurodevelopmental traits associated with Down syndrome. He mentors and has mentored multiple underrepresented graduate and undergraduate students in laboratory research in numerous programs including the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), IU Indianapolis Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), IU Indianapolis Diversity Scholar Research Program (DSRP), and the IU Summer STEM Scholar Program. He is a Certified Facilitator with the Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER), a board member of the IChange Network Midwest Excellence in Mentoring Experiences for underrepresented faculty, and co-chairs the IU Indianapolis Graduate School Boot Camp that prepares diverse students from around the world for graduate school.

Dominique M. Galli, Ph.D.
Associate Program Director
Tel: 317-278-1936
Email: dgalli@iu.edu
Office: DS 261

Dominique M Galli, MSc, Ph.D., the Associate Program Director for the IPREP program, serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Research and Learning (CRL) of the IU Indianapolis Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, and is an Associate Professor of Biomedical and Applied Sciences. Prof. Galli has over 25 years of experience in biomedical research and mentored students at the graduate, professional and undergraduate level including URM students. She was appointed to the position of Executive Director of the CRL in 2015. The CRL provides research programs and scholarships to all undergraduate students, including those from diverse backgrounds. As program co-director, Prof. Galli will be responsible for assistance with overall program organization and implementation, resolving participant-mentor grievances, student selection, and meeting on a regular basis with IPREP participants. She will become the Director of the IPREP program in the event that Dr. Burr is unable to serve in this capacity.

Kim Nguyen, Ed.D.
Coordinator of Recruitment for IPREP
Tel: 317-274-1126
Email: knguyen@iu.edu
Office: UL1140U

Kim Nguyen, Ed.D., will serve as the Coordinator of Recruitment for IPREP. Dr. Nguyen is the recipient of three major projects funded by the National Science Foundation for URM students in STEM. She co-directs the Louis Stokes Midwest Center of Excellence (LSMCE), the Scholarship for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) and is the Project Director of the Indiana STEM LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation) program at IU Indianapolis. She also co-directs the NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship programs that facilitate the increase in numbers of Math and Science Secondary teachers. Dr. Nguyen has many years of experience as the Assistant Dean for enrollment in the IU Indianapolis School of Science and Assistant Director of Student Financial Aid at multiple institutions including Ivy Tech and IU Indianapolis.

Janice S. Blum, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Graduate School Preparation and Application Activities
Tel: 317-278-1715
Email: jblum@iu.edu
Office: MS420

Janice S. Blum, Ph.D., serves as the Coordinator of Graduate School Preparation and Application Activities for IPREP and will assist in coordinating the transition of IPREP scholars to competitive Ph.D. programs on this or other campuses. She is also our program liaison to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Blum is Dean of the IU Graduate School Indianapolis and Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Education on campus overseeing admissions for all campus graduate and professional degree programs as well as awarding Graduate School degrees in Indianapolis. Dr. Blum has extensive research experience in immunology and cell biology including studies on host-pathogen responses, autoimmunity, transplantation, and cancer biology. She has directed several federal research and training grants. Dr. Blum is actively involved in fostering programs and practices that attract learners from underrepresented populations to our campus graduate programs. She has received the campus' highest award for her mentoring efforts with diverse students and holds a Chancellor's professorship. She serves as a co-director for our campus Beckman Scholars program in Biology and Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Tabitha Hardy, Ph.D.
Recruitment Coordinator and Member of the Executive Committee
Tel: 317-278-4644
Email: tamhardy@iu.edu
Office: UL 1170

Tabitha Hardy builds and sustains campus and community academic, research, and career partnerships; prepares grants; and teaches career and professional development courses. She also recruits and advises graduate and professional students and works with faculty as the director of the Preparing Future Faculty & Professionals (PFFP) program, in addition to planning and administering the annual Getting You Into IU Indianapolis Open House and Institute and coordinating activities for summer programs.

Ann C. Kimble-Hill, Ph.D.
Program Coordinator
Tel: 317-278-1763
Email: ankimble@iu.edu
Office: MS4079

Ann C. Kimble-Hill, Ph.D. will serve as the Program Coordinator. Dr. Kimble-Hill earned her doctoral degree here as a part of the IU Indianapolis community. She served as the president of the underrepresented graduate organization on campus for several years, spearheading programming that connected and supported minority students across the IU Indianapolis campus. Currently, Dr. Kimble-Hill is a Visiting Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and has mentored students in multiple undergraduate research programs including the Urban Center for the Advancement of STEM Education (UCASE), the Life-Health Science Internship Program (LHSI), Bridges to the Baccalaureate, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), Diversity Scholars Research Program (DSRP), American Chemical Society Project Seed, Biology/Chemistry Department capstone classes, Purpose of Life Ministries and Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP). She also serves on several non-profit board/committees including being the principal investigator for several foundation grants to support and organize regional science and education programming (2008-2011 Midwest Biotech Conferences - National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), 2013 Fall National Meeting Symposium - American Chemical Society (ACS) Committee for Minority Affairs). Dr. Kimble-Hill will be responsible for day-to-day operations; processing applications; developing individual development programs for each participant; serving as an advocate for the participants; ensuring consistency in mentoring experiences; monitoring short- and long-term student progress and success; facilitating group activities such as seminars and journal clubs; and connecting students with other student and URM programs and activities on the IU Indianapolis campus.