Kathleen Furr, Director of Research Services

Kathleen Furr comes to AUS from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she was Director of Sponsored Projects. Prior to that she was with the University of Illinois system as the Associate Director of Research Administration, overseeing sponsored projects, compliance and university contracts. Her international experience includes working for the Texas A&M University system in Qatar, handling external grant proposals and she also helped to establish the National Research Foundation in the United Arab Emirates from 2008 to 2011 under the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Kathleen obtained both her BA and MS degrees from Oklahoma State University, a certificate from the American University of Cairo, and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in higher education policy and leadership.

Sanda Bob, Senior Grants Management Specialist

Sanda Bob joined AUS in 2009 and in 2011 became assistant to the Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies. She joined the Office of the Chief Research Officer in 2017. She performs various functions as a lead administrator for all things pre-award, post-award, compliance and reporting on internal and external research grants. She holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania

M. Rashid Khan, Post-Award Grant Specialist

M. Rashid Khan has joined AUS in November 2018 as a Post-Award Grant Specialist for the Office of the Chief Research Officer. He handles post-award grant management for all internal and external grants, particularly for the College of Engineering. Prior to AUS, he was associated with Aga Khan University (AKU) for more than 10 years for Research and Grants Administration; he left AKU as Assistant Manager Research and Grants Administration. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Iqra University, Karachi, Pakistan.

Madhav Das, Post-Award Grant Specialist 

Madhav Das came to AUS from Khalifa University (formerly Masdar Institute of Science and Technology), where he was the Research Contracts and Grants Specialist, with experience in handling pre-award and post-award activities for both internal and external funding. Prior to working in research administration, Madhav was part of the outsourcing industry in India and has managed outsourced and proprietary processes for companies such as American Express (USA), Simplexity LLC and Sterling Infosystems.

Akshera Rai, Post-Award Grant Specialist 

Akshera Rai comes to AUS from Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), where she worked for more than four years as a Grants & Compliance Officer. She has also been the IRB coordinator at the university, assisting researchers in receiving IRB approval for their human subject research. Prior to that, she has also briefly worked with the Outreach & Business Development department at GU-Q.

Irise Villamora, Administrative Assistant 

Irise Villamora has more than 10 years of professional experience in both technical and analytical accounting and office management. She previously worked in Colliers International, Philippines and NTUC Unity Healthcare, Singapore. Irise has been working in the UAE since 2012.