Heidi Smith Parker
Director of Research Advancement and Strategic Initiatives
Dr. Parker supports faculty across departments within USC Dornsife. We offer consulting and editing services for federal grant submissions spanning the US National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Justice, Department of Defense, and Department of Energy. Dr. Parker is passionate about science outreach and helps faculty develop NSF Broader Impacts. Prior to USC, Dr. Parker was a grant consultant for Michigan State University (2015-2017). She has a doctorate in Biological Sciences from Columbia University where she studied neurogenetics and behavior in nematodes. She pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Texas, Austin in the field of animal behavior and genetics, using frogs. She has over a decade of experience in editing manuscripts, books, and grant proposals.
Contact: hkparker@usc.edu | (213) 764-0198
Brooke Willans
Humanities Grant Consultant
Dr. Brooke Willans is USC Dornsife’s Humanities Grant Consultant. She works with humanities faculty to identify funding opportunities, develop proposal ideas, and shape compelling grant applications. She brings extensive experience in research, teaching, writing, and editing across the humanities. Before joining USC, Brooke taught Latin, Classics, research, writing, and Great Books courses at the secondary and university levels. She has also worked as a freelance editor and writing consultant, providing support for academic papers, manuscripts, dissertations, books, screenplays, and grant proposals. Brooke holds a Ph.D. in Classics, Philosophy, and Ancient Science from the University of Pittsburgh, where her research focused on Platonic myth, as well as master’s degrees in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College and in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University.
Contact: willans@usc.edu
Caitlin McOmish
Grant Strategist
Dr. Caitlin McOmish serves as a Grant Strategy Consultant at USC Dornsife, with a focus on NIH and NSF funding applications. In her role, Caitlin supports faculty and research teams in the development of compelling grant proposals that are in alignment with funding priorities, helping USC researchers maximize their success in securing external support. Trained as a neuroscientist (PhD: University of Melbourne; Postdoctoral Fellow: Columbia University), she brings extensive experience as a science writer and research communication specialist, with over a decade of experience translating complex ideas for diverse audiences.
Contact: mcomish@usc.edu
Katya Kadyshevskaya
Graphic Designer and Scientific Illustrator
Katya Kadyshevskaya is an experienced artist and illustrator with a strong background in scientific visualization. She is excited to collaborate with faculty and staff across departments to support the visual communication in scientific research.
She specializes in creating graphics and figures for scientific papers, grant proposals, and presentations, as well as scientific and medical illustrations for graphical abstracts, press releases, and journal covers. Learn more >>
She has been serving the scientific community at USC since 2015. Before that, she worked at the Scripps Research (TSRI) from 2009 to 2015. She has an MS degree in Biology from the Moscow State University and BFA degree in Graphic Design from the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD).
Contact: kadyshev@usc.edu
