Cathy Higgins

Experience

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  Jefferson Forest High School

  Aug 1999 - Jun 2000

  Chemistry Teacher

  Taught advanced and general chemistry

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  Baylor College of Medicine

  Mar 2004 - Sept 2007

  NIH Postdoctoral Fellow

  Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology Training Program (http://www.bcm.edu/medicine/athero/traingrant.htm). Mentors: Joel D. Morrisett, Ph.D. (morriset@bcm.tmc.edu) and Henry J. Pownall, Ph.D. (pownall@bcm.tmc.edu). Research topics: Mechanism(s) of vascular calcification, involvement of matrix metalloproteinases in atherosclerosis, and stability of high-density lipoproteins.Executive Committee Member, BCM Postdoctoral Association

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  Gulf Coast Consortia

  Sept 2007 - Apr 2012

  Program Director, Research Consortia

  Catherine L. Higgins, Ph.D., is the Program Director for the Research Consortia of the Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC). The GCC, one of the largest inter-institutional cooperatives in the world, synergizes the strengths of Houston/Galveston-area academic medical research institutions and universities (Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, University of Houston, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston) by building interdisciplinary collaborative research teams and training programs at the frontiers of quantitative biomedical sciences. The GCC is comprised of two arms, the Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training and the Research Consortia. Dr. Higgins’s responsibilities with the Research Consortia lie in development and implementation of strategic services and collaborative resources that span disciplinary and administrative barriers across the GCC institutions and beyond. She interacts and works collaboratively with executives, faculty, and professionals from GCC member institutions, organizations, government, and industry to coordinate multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional programs and proposals. In addition, she manages collaborative seed grant programs. She identifies funding opportunities, targets dissemination, and works with teams of investigators to coordinate development of programs and projects intended to generate major external funding. She works with investigator teams to design center administration, education, and outreach and then manages the education, outreach, networking, and training portions of funded center grants. Show less

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  Texas A&M University Health Science Center

  Apr 2012 - Aug 2016

  Director for the Institutional Review Boards and Human Research Protection Program* Certified IRB Professional (CIP)* Certified IRB Manager (CIM)* Manager April 2012-August 2015, Director August 2015-present• Commitment to the protection of human subjects and research ethics. • Responsible for the oversight of the Human Subjects Protection Program.• Serve as a resource for Federal and State Regulations, Institutional Policies, and regulatory compliance issues relating to human subjects research.• Participate in IRB Meetings as a member, regulatory official, and staff manager.• Manage professional and administrative IRB staff.• Organize and present training and educational activities. • Develop and implement new policies and procedures.• Facilitate AAHRPP Accreditation.• Transitioned IRB from paper file system to online iRIS system.• Interview for "IRB Advisor" publication. Show less

  • Adjunct Associate Professor

    Aug 2013 - Aug 2016

  • HRPP/IRB Director

    Apr 2012 - Aug 2016
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  Stand Up To Cancer

  Oct 2016 - now

  • Vice President, Science Programs

    Aug 2022 - now

  • Senior Director, Scientific Program Management

    Apr 2020 - Aug 2022

  • Director, Scientific Program Management

    Oct 2016 - Apr 2020