Mad Minute with Santinio Jones

What made you decide that MCIRCC is the place for you to work?

The deciding factor for me was the fact that I would get the opportunity to work with a group of dedicated, energetic, engaged individuals that are passionate about helping investigators obtain funding to advance their research in Critical Care.

Describe your role within the Proposal Development Unit.

My role within the PDU is to serve as the Project Manager and perform some of the following responsibilities: Create timelines and project plans to help members prepare for and complete grant proposal submissions;  help PIs plan and run meetings for teams writing large-scale, complex grants; facilitate team brainstorming sessions for interdisciplinary grants; and generally coordinate the proposal writing process for teams by facilitating team communication, assisting with supporting documents, and ensuring the grant writing process is on track from conceptualization to submission.

Is there a specific project you are most excited about tackling? If so, what?

In my first few weeks, I have already spent a large portion of my time working on an American Heart Association Center Grant that Dr. Neumar is submitting in February. This is a huge and complex proposal and I am excited that I have gotten the opportunity to jump right in and help Dr. Neumar and his team manage this large project! I look forward to working on other large-scale grants like this as well, including Dr. Stringer’s P01 and the many others I am sure will follow.

What would you like MCIRCC members to know about when working with you?

I would like the MCIRCC members to know that I am a big picture thinker that truly enjoys the process of working with individuals and teams to brainstorm, plan, problem-solve, and find solutions that will ultimately improve/enhance processes/procedures. I hope this will help facilitate and benefit their grant writing process.

Share something interesting (and non-work related) about yourself.

I am currently in Graduate School at Eastern Michigan University – College of Business and I spend what little free time I have enjoying the company of my beautiful wife (Lakeya) and daughter (Natalie), working out, and reading leadership/self-help books.