Biography

Elizabeth Conklin is a supervisory section chief in the Grants Management Branch (GMB), Grants Section A, within NCATS’ Division of Extramural Activities. In this role, she supervises a team of six grants management specialists, serves as a member of the GMB Management and Leadership Teams, manages team workloads and assigns projects, issues NCATS grant awards, and supports her team in their professional growth and development. She is the GMB lead for the NCATS Trial Innovation Network.

Prior to joining NCATS, Conklin began her NIH career as a grants management specialist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, where she transitioned to a supervisory team lead position in 2015. Previously, she served as the grants management specialist for the Hospital Preparedness Program and the Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development Program awards administered through the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response from 2007 to 2009. Conklin joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2003 as a member of the Emerging Leaders Program, where she completed brief rotations at offices across HHS, including the Office of Inspector General, the Administration for Children and Families, and the HHS Office of the Secretary, where she transitioned to a full-time position in the Division of Grants Policy, Oversight and Evaluation.

Conklin earned her Bachelor of Arts in urban studies and history from Barnard College and her Master of Business Administration in finance from Wilkes University.

Professional Interests

Conklin enjoys applying creative solutions in diverse team settings to address complicated grants and research administrative challenges. She is interested in hiring and being involved in succession planning for grant managers at NIH; creative methods of sharing expertise, such as podcasts and blogs; and fostering a mission-driven culture of accountability, helpfulness and creativity.