Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity
Marie A. Bernard, M.D.
Marie A. Bernard, M.D., is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD). As the COSWD, she leads NIH thought regarding the science of scientific workforce diversity, assuring that the full range of talent is accessed to promote scientific creativity and innovation.
Dr. Bernard co-led the development of the Fiscal Years 2023 – 2027 NIH-wide Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and is working on its implementation. She is also a cochair of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director Working Group on Diversity, the NIH Steering Committee Working Group on DEIA, and the NIH UNITE initiative to identify and address any structural racism that may exist within NIH and throughout the biomedical and behavioral workforce.
Prior to being selected as the COSWD in 2021, she was Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA). As NIA’s senior geriatrician, she served as the principal advisor to the NIA director. She also led a broad range of activities, including cochairing two Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020/2030 objectives – 1) Older Adults, and 2) Dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease. She co-led the NIH-wide Inclusion Governance Committee that ensures appropriate inclusion of individuals in clinical studies, including by sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and inclusion of children and older adults. She also led the Women of Color Committee of the NIH-wide Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers.
Dr. Bernard has received numerous accolades for her national leadership in geriatrics research, teaching, and clinical practice. These include the Clark Tibbits award from the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (2013), the Donald P. Kent award from the Gerontological Society of America (2014), and the John A. Hartford Foundation Trustee award (2022). Additionally, in 2023 she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Her work within NIH also has been recognized with several NIH Director’s awards (2018 and 2019), including the NIH Director’s award for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in 2020. In 2022 she received NIH Director’s awards for her leadership of the NIH UNITE initiative and the NIH Anti-Racism Steering Committee.
Until October 2008, she was the endowed professor and founding chair of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and Associate Chief of Staff for Geriatrics and Extended Care at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She held numerous national leadership roles, including chair of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Research Advisory Committee, chair of the Clinical Medicine (now Health Sciences) Section of the Gerontological Society of America, board member of the American Geriatrics Society, president of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, and president of the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs. She has lectured and published widely in her area of research, nutrition and function in older adults, with particular focus on underrepresented populations.
Dr. Bernard completed her undergraduate education at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and received her M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. She trained in internal medicine at Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, where she served as chief resident. She received additional training through the Association of American Medical Colleges Health Services Research Institute, the Geriatric Education Center of Pennsylvania, and the Wharton School Executive Development Program.
Meet Our Team
The COSWD staff represents a diverse range of professional disciplines. Each staff member works to support the NIH mission and to help foster creativity and innovation in science. (Bios are as of 3/14/23)
Jean H. Shin, Ph.D.
COSWD Deputy Director
Dr. Shin is the Deputy Director of the COSWD office. He provides broad oversight for data-related projects and evaluation efforts, as well as the planning of scientific events and programs. He also liaises with diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA)-oriented working groups within and outside of NIH.
Prior to NIH, he served for nearly 14 years as Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the American Sociological Association (ASA) in Washington, DC. He joined the ASA staff from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, where he was Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for First Year Students and an Associate Professor of Sociology. He was a founding member of the Collaborative to Enhance Diversity in Science (CEDS) and has been a co-Principal Investigator on several NSF-funded research projects—on the links between teaching innovation and social networks, as well as the impact of mentoring and networks on the trajectories of early-career STEM faculty.
Dr. Shin holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Indiana University Bloomington, all in sociology.
Pamela Tamez, Ph.D.
Supervisory Health Science Program Analyst
Dr. Pamela Tamez joined the COSWD office as a Program Officer in April 2022 and led the writing and coordination of an NIH funding opportunity to recognize and support excellence in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility mentoring. She has collaborated with and supported COSWD leadership and staff in creating and building programs, such as the 21st Century Scholars Program and the Scientific Workforce Diversity Seminar Series.
Dr. Tamez knows the importance of excellent mentorship to the development of exceptional future scientists. Prior to joining COSWD, she was the training director within the intramural program of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). She provided mentorship and guidance to intramural trainees and also oversaw training programs to build research capacity in nurse scientists.
Before joining NINR, she guided the career development of intramural trainees at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and curated and annotated genes for the RefSeq project at the National Library of Medicine. Before coming to NIH, she held dual positions as a research assistant professor and director of external programs for the Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases at the University of Notre Dame, where she coordinated research and outreach across the university and with industry and non-profit partners.
Dr. Tamez earned her Ph.D. in drug discovery from the University of Illinois Chicago. Her scientific career was launched through a diversity supplement for a summer internship at Johns Hopkins University. She received a B.A. from Southwestern University in Texas, where her first year of studies was supported by a scholarship from the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Nicole Lang, PMP (she/her)
Social Science Analyst
Nicole Lang joined the COSWD office in 2018 and currently serves as a Social Science Analyst. Nicole manages several programs for the office, including the Scientific Workforce Diversity Seminar Series (SWDSS) and the 21st Century Scholars Program. She also serves as the executive secretary for the Steering Committee Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Working Group, the Advisory Committee to the Director’s Working Group on Diversity (ACD WGD), and the recently disbanded ACD WGD Subgroup on Individuals with Disabilities.
Nicole is a certified project management professional. She earned her B.A. in psychology and in criminology/criminal justice from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Tammy Reddick Lockett
UNITE Program Manager
As the Program Manager for the UNITE initiative, Tammy serves as the central point of contact and liaison for UNITE responsible for facilitating meetings and working closely with the UNITE committees and leadership.
Before coming to COSWD, Tammy was a Program Analyst at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), where she worked on organizational development, project management, and supporting the scientific accreditation processes. She also managed the Health Disparities Reporting listserv.
Her commitment to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion led Tammy to serve on several NIH-wide committees. As an active member of the Anti-Racism Steering Committee (ARSC), she cochairs the ARSC Recruitment Recommendations for Non-scientific Staff subcommittee. She’s also a member of the ARSC Executive Committee, EDI’s Special Emphasis Portfolio Engagement Committee, and the NIH Special Populations Research Interest Workgroup. In 2022, Tammy received the Harvey J. Bullock Award, which recognizes employees who champion equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts at NIH.
Prior to beginning her NIH career in 2009, Tammy worked as a training specialist and in customer service. She has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Bryant Maldonado (he/him)
Management Analyst
Bryant Maldonado is a Management Analyst who works with agency leadership and other federal partners to design, launch, and manage federal programs and activities. He has been instrumental in developing and implementing several programs that originated in or interfaced with the COSWD office, along with supporting interagency coordination and collaboration. As a dedicated public servant committed to the NIH mission, Bryant believes that creativity and ingenuity are paramount for getting the job done in even the most challenging circumstances.
Bryant has garnered praise for his program management work across federal agencies, including the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as Executive Secretary of the Interagency Working Group on Inclusion in STEM, a component of the National Science and Technology Council. Bryant received an NIH Director’s award in 2022 for his extraordinary dedication, teamwork, and leadership in support of the agency’s UNITE initiative to address structural racism and promote racial and ethnic equity.
Bryant holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Bryant is currently on detail to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in their Science and Society division.
Denise McGarrell
Management Analyst
Denise is a Management Analyst in the COSWD office. She has more than 22 years of experience serving as a contractor for the Center for Scientific Review (CSR). At CSR, she was a review branch administrative assistant responsible for scheduling and coordinating office staffing and events. She also provided analysis, research, and contract support for many projects.
Denise was also a co-organizer of the CSR Idea Council’s Second Annual Juneteenth/Caribbean Heritage Month Festival.
She holds an M.S. in health science administration from Strayer University, a B.S. in biology from the State University of New York, and an associate degree in agriculture science from the Guyana School of Agriculture in Guyana, South America.
Kathryn McKay, M.A.
Writer/Editor
Kathryn (Kathy) McKay is a Writer/Editor for COSWD and the UNITE Initiative. Before coming to COSWD, Kathy worked in the communications departments of the National Cancer Institute and the National Library of Medicine. Before coming to NIH in 2016, Kathy was a Health Communications Specialist at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). She has had feature articles published in magazines and newspapers and worked in public affairs at Kaiser Permanente.
Kathy holds a B.A. in communication from the University of Delaware and a M.A. in nonfiction writing from Johns Hopkins University.
Trenell J. Mosley, Ph.D. (she/her)
Health Specialist
Dr. Mosley is a Health Specialist in the COSWD office, overseeing policy, programmatic, and operational activities. These activities include but are not limited to assisting the COSWD on legislative affairs, leading and supporting COSWD office initiatives, such as the Diversity Catalysts and DEIA Mentorship Supplements, and coordinating COSWD special interest projects.
Dr. Mosley is a human geneticist with formal training in bioinformatics and molecular biology and experience in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). She completed her doctorate in genetics and molecular biology at Emory University in 2021, where she investigated the genetic and genomic causes of rare diseases. Dr. Mosley earned her bachelor’s degree in human biology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Glorivee Pagán-Mercado, Ph.D.
Health Specialist
Dr. Pagán-Mercado is a Health Specialist in the COSWD office. Her scientific expertise spans human and yeast molecular genetics, vision research, and cancer. Before joining COSWD, she served as a Scientific Program Specialist and program manager for intramural research programs at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
At NCI, her responsibilities included overseeing postdoctoral biomedical training and career development programs, as well as being designated as the organization’s representative in the review and submission of career development (K) awards. Prior to NCI, Dr. Pagán-Mercado was a postdoctoral fellow at both the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and the National Eye Institute (NEI).
Throughout her career, Dr. Pagán-Mercado has championed diversity and inclusion—especially the recruitment of a diverse population in support of biomedical research workforce development.
Dr. Pagán-Mercado earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Puerto Rico, where she also received a B.S. in biology.
Julius Patterson
Communications Lead
Julius Patterson directs communications activities for both the COSWD and the NIH UNITE initiative. Julius also serves as the contracting officer representative for the COSWD/UNITE communications contract.
He began his federal career as a health communications specialist at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, providing writing, editing, and quality control for a wide range of Agency web and print publications. He began his NIH career in 2016, as a lead communications specialist with the NIH Center for Information Technology, responsible for overseeing executive communications and strategic messaging for CIT senior staff and for key internal and external initiatives. During his time at CIT, Julius received numerous awards for his employee engagement activities (e.g., initiating an Employee Spotlight Program) and collaborations with CIT colleagues on other important projects.
Julius holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Virginia Tech, with concentrations in professional writing, communications, and marketing.
Tonya Scott (she/her)
Executive Assistant to the COSWD
Tonya Scott serves as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD), providing day-to-day administrative and operational support to the COSWD, other leadership, and staff.
Tonya began her NIH career as a Scientific Program Analyst with the Associate Director of Data Science in the Office of the Director (OD). While serving in this capacity, she received an OD Honor Award for her exceptional contribution and flexibility in adapting to the changing requirements for the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Program. Additionally, she received an achievement award for leading the efforts on the development and successful implementation of an Employee Recognition award program, which has since been adopted by other organizations within the OD.
Tonya holds a bachelor of science degree in marketing from the University of Maryland, University College.