Overview
This webinar, hosted by NIMH Grants Management Officers and Specialists, will explain the Post-Award Process, and walk the viewer through how to manage a grant once the NIMH has awarded it. Topics will range from submitting the annual Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) to closing out the award once the research has been completed.
Speaker
Tamara Kees
Supervisory Grants Officer
National Institute of Mental Health

After spending nearly two decades in private industry, Ms. Kees began her career at the National Institute of Health (NIH) working within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in 2003. During her tenure at NIAID, she developed her skills by managing a complex portfolio of foreign and domestic research grants including the HPTN Clinical Trials Network. While managing the network, which included over 40 sites in more than 15 countries, Ms. Kees has participated in international site visits in Peru, Rwanda, and Brazil to train and guide NIH international grant recipients on how to comply with United States and NIH regulations and policies and manage their NIH grant awards.
She is now a Supervisory Grants Management Specialist and Team Leader at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), supervising a team of specialists with a cross divisional portfolio of grants located in the Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science (DNBBS), Division of Services and Intervention Research (DSIR), Division of Translational Research (DTR), Division of Aids Research (DAR) as well as the Office for Global Mental Health (GMH).
Speaker
Rita Sisco
Supervisory Grants Officer
National Institute of Mental Health
Rita Sisco began her career as a Program Analyst, then a Budget Analyst at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. She then joined National Institute of Neurological Disease for 10 years as a Grants Management Specialist before joining NIMH in 2005 as a Supervisory Grants Management Specialist and Team Leader at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), supervising a team of specialists with cross divisional portfolio of grants located in the Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science (DNBBS), Division of Services and Intervention Research (DSIR), Division of Translational Research (DTR), Division of Aids Research (DAR) and the Office for Global Mental Health (GMH).
Speaker
Julie Bergerud
Grants Specialist
National Institute of Mental Health
Julie Bergerud received her Bachelor of Science degree and later earned her MBA from York College of Pennsylvania in 2006. She is approaching her 15th year as a Grants Management Specialist at NIH. She began her career at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). She served as a Team Leader at NIAID for 3 years before joining NIMH in 2019. Over the years she has managed a diverse portfolio of both foreign and domestic grants. The highlights of her time at NIAID included coordinating Career Awards and the CFAR Program (The Center for AIDS Research). From 2013-2017 she was the lead Grants Specialist for the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN). She also gained experience working with Clinical Trail grants in addition to managing the Financial Conflict of Interest reporting at NIAID. She participated in site a visit in Lima, Peru, presented post-award training in London, England, as well as several post-award trainings for the CFAR awards.
Speaker
Robert Munk
Grants Specialist
National Institute of Mental Health
Robert Munk received his Bachelor of Science degree and later earned a Master’s in Education from the State University of New York, University of Buffalo in 1996. After teaching for 12 years at the elementary, middle school, and college levels, he began his career at the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) in 2004 and is now in his 19th year as a Grants Management Specialist at NIH. He spent several years at both the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) as a senior specialist and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) as a Team Lead before returning to NIMH in 2015. He has applied his teaching background by participating in and helping to plan and run the NIH-wide annual Orientation to Grants Management course for new hires, the NIH Grants Management University (for NIH employees), and in the NIMH New Employee Training program. He has broad experience in managing a complex portfolio of Foreign and Domestic research grants. He now works primarily with the Division of Translational Research (DTR) and the Division of Aids Research (DAR).