Our Team

Tommy Sors

Thomas Sors, PhD, brings expertise in strategic research planning, NIH funding development, cross-disciplinary team building, technology development, and translational science pathways. He has more than a decade of experience at the intersection of research, funding strategy, and technology, contributing to Purdue's growth in NIH funding and advancing collaborations across academia, government, and industry. Since 2010, he has held leadership roles with the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and currently serves as Director of Scientific Strategy and Relations at Purdue's Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease (PI4D).

Natasha Nikolaidis

Natasha Nikolaidis, MS, specializes in research operations and shared resource management, project and financial management, business planning, and strategic planning. She enhances research productivity by aligning operations with strategic vision, supporting interdisciplinary collaboration, and developing best practices for core facility management. Natasha serves on the Core Administrators Committee for the Association for Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF) and has been part of Purdue's leadership since 2014, where she is currently Associate Director of Operations at the Bindley Bioscience Center.

Li Yuan Bermel

Li Yuan (Luanne) Bermel, PhD, is recognized for her expertise in large-scale program leadership, cancer biomarker research, cross-training of scientists and fellows, seed grant program development, and global women's health initiatives. She has led multi-institutional projects, including a $7 million cancer biomarker study and a $2.5 million cross-training program, while advancing international collaborations in breast cancer prevention and reciprocal innovation. At Purdue, she serves as Managing Director of the Women's Global Health Institute, where she has played a pivotal role in expanding seed grant programs supporting innovation in women's health, cancer, and global health.

Betsy Hillary

Betsy Hillery, MBA, specializes in data integration strategies, high-performance computing, research data infrastructure, strategic project management, and statewide innovation-industry partnerships. With over 20 years of IT experience, including eight in high-performance computing, she has built collaborative research infrastructure and data systems that advance life sciences research. She leads the development of the LIFE@Scale platform as Director of Data Initiatives at Purdue's Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering and serves as Purdue's liaison to the Analytix Indiana initiative, fostering statewide connections between faculty and industry.

Aikaterini Logkaki

Aikaterini joined RCHE as a junior data scientist in December 2021. She received her undergraduate degree in Applied Mathematics from the National Technical University of Athens, majoring in Statistics. She also holds a Master of Business Administration from Purdue University, Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business. She is interested in storytelling through visualizations and exploring/analyzing data to uncover valuable insights.

Patrick Mulligan

Patrick Mulligan has 9 years of web development experience, with much of the experience focused on science/research related web projects. In 2015, he started his web development journey working as a web administrator for College of Science at Purdue University. He joined the HUBzero team in 2017 as a "full stack" developer, providing features and improvements to the HUBzero collaborative research web platform. He later joined Research Computing at Purdue University in 2021 which included developing a web front end for various 3D simulation projects developed through the Envision Center. Starting in May of 2024, he is the Senior Research Software Engineer with RCHE.

Christopher Phillips

Chris is a systems and infrastructure expert with deep experience in diagnostics, IT operations, and data governance. He supports high-performance computing and aligns infrastructure with NIH and NIST standards. With a background in mechanical systems and a degree from Michigan Technological University, he transitioned from Dow Chemical's logistics software to Purdue's research computing. At RCHE, he leads infrastructure and governance efforts, ensuring researchers have secure, efficient tools and concierge-level support.

Shawn Rice

Shawn Rice is a lead software engineer for RCHE. With over 25 years of web development experience, his skills and interest run the gamut from programming to graphic design to accessibility & usability testing. In spring of 2005 he joined the Network for Computational Nanotechnology as a web developer, working primarily on nanoHUB.org, contributing to both the visual design and code. With the creation of HUBzero, Shawn took on the role of senior web developer, spending his time writing code, doing graphic design, and offering support for various projects. He went on to manage HUBzero's web development efforts for several years before eventually joining Research Computing's team. He developed the Research Computing web portal, used for managing HPC center operations, as well as providing various research software engineering and graphic design services until he joined RCHE in 2024.

Wendy Ann Koss

Wendy Ann Koss, PhD, brings expertise in neuroscience research, animal behavior pharmacology, drug discovery for Alzheimer's and neural disorders, in vivo testing, and molecular neuropathology. With 20 years of experience in neuroscience, she has led research design, project management, and team leadership efforts while securing grant and industry support. She is the founding Director of the Purdue Animal Behavior Core, where she oversees operations and scientific direction, supporting Purdue faculty, biotech firms, and pharmaceutical partners, and represents the Purdue Institute of Integrative Neuroscience in university leadership.

Karson S Putt

Karson Putt, PhD, specializes in drug discovery and development, oncology and neurodegeneration research, high-throughput screening, startup creation, patents and IP, and medical device development. He has established high-throughput screening facilities at both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Johnson & Johnson, contributed to multiple drugs now in human clinical trials, and holds more than 40 patents. Karson also advises startups and industry partners. At Purdue, he serves as Senior Managing Director of the Institute for Drug Discovery and Chief Administrator of the Drug Discovery Training Program.

Kaethe Ann Beck

Kaethe Ann Beck, MS, is a leader in strategic leadership, research institute coordination, commercialization, fundraising, and alliance management in life sciences. She has extensive experience building and managing collaborative teams, defining strategic goals, and delivering measurable results. Kaethe currently serves as Assistant Vice President for Strategic Impact at Purdue University, focusing on strategy and coordination of the Life Sciences Institutes. She has also served as Associate Vice President for Operations at the University of Cincinnati's Office of Innovation and was Director of Operations for Life Sciences at Purdue, where she coordinated six life science institutes and managed a $52M research partnership with Eli Lilly. Earlier in her career, she directed a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence and worked in microscopy analysis software sales.

Perry M Kirkham

Perry M. Kirkham, PhD, is recognized for his skills in NIH proposal development, grant workshops, faculty mentoring, immunology expertise, and team-building for competitive funding. Since 2007, he has supported Purdue faculty in building competitive NIH proposals, leading workshops, and mentoring early-career researchers. Perry previously served as a program officer at the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, focusing on allergy, immunology, and transplantation. He earned his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, followed by fellowships in protein engineering and structural biology, and has also held research and visiting scientist roles at UAB and Eli Lilly.

Stephanie J Merrill

Stephanie Merrill represents the Office of Foundation Relations to assist faculty in proposal development and outreach to private foundations. Stephanie works across Discovery Park Centers and Institutes to share RFP's and identify private foundations whose mission is a match with projects that faculty teams are developing. Stephanie formerly worked for Purdue Applied Research Institute on the Digital Ag Start-Up, DIAL, as well as spent time earlier in her career in Marketing at Procter & Gamble.

Cassondra "Casey" Kinderman

Casey Kinderman brings expertise in public health program management, maternal and child health systems, and health access for state and local communities. As a Project Manager, she excels in performance management and quality improvement, supporting statewide initiatives for better health outcomes, and project management execution.

Pramukh Ramanna Gowda

Pramukh Ramanna Gowda brings expertise in program administration, project management, process mapping and improvement, and supply chain planning. He has applied problem-solving methodologies and workflow automation to strengthen research coordination and impact in the life sciences. As a Graduate Professional Assistant with the Discovery Park District Institutes, he leads the administration of the Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship (DUIRI) program and supports strategic initiatives in the Life Sciences Cluster. Before Purdue, he worked with Toyota in supply chain planning, production control, and lean manufacturing, driving efficiencies in new product introduction and facility design. He holds a bachelor's in industrial engineering and management and is pursuing a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering at Purdue University.