Research & Creative Activities

The Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities serves as the Chief Research Officer for the Campus and is charged with stewarding the academic and creative activity enterprise. Within ORCA resides the Research Concierge Program to support new faculty in initiating their research at UCLA. The Vice Chancellor is supported by a Deputy Director, part time Advisors, and an Office Administrator.

Alejandra Elizalde (Office Administrator) 
Mary Okino (Deputy Director)
Nasia Turner (Historically Black Colleges and Universities Coordinator)
 

Faculty Advisors

• Todd Presner (Advisor to the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities) – North Campus

• Amy Rowat (Advisor to the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities) - South Campus

The Office of Research Administration (historically known as “ORA”) provides operational infrastructure, regulatory assistance, and administrative services in support of faculty and other members of the campus research community, as described below:

• Contracts & Grants Administration (OGCA)

• Extramural Fund Management (EFM)

• Office of Human Research Protection Programs (OHRPP)

• Research Information Systems (ORIS)

• Research Data Management (ORDM)

• Business and Financial Services (OBFS)

The Research Enhancement Office works on a broad portfolio of initiatives on behalf of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities. The team's work reaches all areas of the campus and is designed to support UCLA's robust ecosystem of research and creative activities. REO's areas of activity include:

• Research development, including the campus limited submission process, funding opportunity resources, and events focused on developing/funding research and creative activities
• Events and program reviews for the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities
• Research Concierge Program
• Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Initiative

Research Policy and Compliance (RPC) provides leadership, regulatory expertise, professional guidance, and administrative support to the campus in order to promote the ethical conduct of research and to facilitate compliance with federal, state, University of California, and UCLA regulations, and policies. RPC supports the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities in his roles as the Institutional Official for oversight of the Animal Care and Use Program at UCLA, and Research Integrity Officer.

RPC serves as the administrative home for the UCLA Export Control compliance program. RPC staff work collaboratively with Legal Affairs, Academic Affairs, and ORA on special reviews related to questions of foreign engagement.

RPC convenes and provides leadership for a number of faculty-led review committees, including the:

• Animal Research Committee

• Conflict of Interest Review Committee

• Institutional Biosafety Committee

• Radiation Safety Committees

RPC also supports other specialized committees, including the:

• Cannabis Advisory Board (CAB)

• Chemical & Physical Safety Committee (CPSC)

• Dual Use Review Entity (DURE)

• High Containment Use Committee (HCUC)

• High Containment Laboratory Oversight Group (HCLOG)

• Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research Safety Oversight Committee (OSOC)

 

The Technology Development Group (formerly known as the Office of Intellectual Property & Industry Sponsored Research) serves as a campus-wide gateway to innovation and entrepreneurship. This division of the Research & Creative Activities organization is responsible for:

• Commercially evaluating new technologies

• Determining patentability and commercial value

• Prosecuting patents

• Marketing and licensing inventions

• Facilitating faculty startups

• Engaging industry to facilitate research collaboration

• Negotiating license agreements and material transfer agreements

• Receiving and distributing royalties and other income to the inventors, campus and its departments