Carpantato (Tanta) Myles | The University of Alabama
Region III Chair

Tanta is a Senior Issues Contributing Editor of NCURA Magazine. She currently serves as the Director of Research Compliance at the University of Alabama, overseeing IRB, IACUC, IBC, export controls, COI, research security, and research misconduct. Before joining UA, she served as the special assistant to the vice-president for research at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she oversaw administration and operational support services/programs for the Office of Vice-President for Research. She recently served as the PRA Conference Co-Chair in NOLA. She is also an NCURA Peer Reviewer and serves on the N&LDC. She is also a Lecturer in Johns Hopkins University’s Master of Science in Research Administration degree program. Tanta has served Region III in various ways, including serving as Public Relations Coordinator (2016-2018). Tanta received the Region III Distinguished Service Award in 2019.

Laneika Musalini
Region III Chair-Elect

Dr. Laneika K. Musalini is the director for the office of sponsored programs at Columbus State University. Dr. Musalini is a veteran research administrator with over 20 years of research administration experience, where she has managed various stages of the life cycle from research development and grant writing to directing the pre- and post-award central operations. In addition to volunteering for many years in Region III (presenter, workshop faculty, philanthropy coordinator, DEI coordinator, program and planning committees), she has served NCURA national as chair of the Presidential Task Force on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, where she led the Task Force to become a Select Committee. She has served on multiple national meeting program committees over the years, and for the last few years, she has served as the contributing editor for the Inclusion Column of the NCURA Magazine. She is also a 2020 graduate of the NCURA Executive Leadership Program (ELP) and the recipient of the 2020 Region III Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Musalini is a published author and is very passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion, especially as it pertains to the impact on research and research administration. 

Natasha Williams | Emory University
Region III Immediate Past Chair

Natasha Williams is a Pre-Award Administrator III in Emory University’s School of Public Health RAS Unit, and has had a long and extensive nearly 30-year career in research administration. She likes to say that she has grown up in the field, having begun her career in 1993 as the administrative assistant on the Ronald E. McNair grant at Morehouse College when grants were still being typed on typewriters, and then put in boxes to be flown to DC. Since that beginning, Natasha has held a variety of both pre- and post-award positions at the department, college, and central office levels, and in a variety of different institutions and agencies to include the State of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Kennesaw State University. A dedicated community activist and volunteer, Natasha is a former parent representative on the Hapeville Charter School Board, and was a charter member of the Hapeville Charter Career Academy PTA. She currently serves as a member of the City of South Fulton’s Parks and Recreation Citizen’s Steering Committee and is a grant reviewer for the Fulton County Department of Community Development. Natasha holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio/TV Broadcast Journalism, a Master of Public Administration degree in Public Management from Georgia State University, and a graduate certificate in Leadership, Ethics, & Character from Kennesaw State University. She is currently a doctoral student in Public Administration at Valdosta State University where she focuses her own research on organizational development and innovation in the public sector.

Rebecca Wessinger | University of South Carolina
Region III Secretary

Rebecca Wessinger is the Assistant Director of Research Development in the College of Engineering and Computing at the University of South Carolina. Her current roles include enhanced research development, editing of proposals, strategic funding searches and faculty matching, assistance in writing institutional sections of your proposals, connecting faculty with resources within the university to fulfill broader impacts and outreach, and coordination proposal and teaming development. She has over 15 years of sponsored award experience at the University of South Carolina including roles in the Sponsored Awards Management Office as well as Director of Grants and Contracts in the College of Education. Rebecca has been a member of NCURA since 2015. She has served as Public Relations Coordinator and Program Book Coordinator since 2022. In 2023, she was awarded the Pam Whitlock Rising Start Award.

Dr. Emily Deveraux | University of South Carolina
Regionally-Elected National Board Member

Dr. Emily Devereux is the Senior Director of Research Development in the College of Engineering and Computing at the University of South Carolina. She oversees the Office of Research Development, including the services of strategic proposal development for large initiatives, strategic funding plans, teaming, proposal writing and competitiveness, and research management for large research programs and centers. She has over 20 years of experience in research development, including strategic research growth, strategic planning, research development, student research growth, and research administration. She was previously the Executive Director of Research at Arkansas State University in which she grew research development initiatives, advancing the institution to R2 status before joining the University of South Carolina. She holds her Doctorate in Public Administration, is the author of numerous chapters and journal articles in research development and administration, and she is a member of the National NCURA Board of Directors. Dr. Devereux is also the owner of RDPrac LLC, a small business specializing in research development consulting services for faculty researchers, industry, and non-profit organizations. 

Jaime Petrasek | University of Virginia
Treasurer

Jaime Petrasek has close to 17 years of experience in research administration, all in the beautiful state of Virginia. Jaime began her career in the Office of Sponsored Programs at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), then spent a few years working on clinical trials in the VCU Children’s Hospital, and most recently served as the Director of Research Administration for the VCU School of Social Work. After serving VCU for 16 and a half years, Jaime traded her city view for a (virtual) view of the mountains and joined the University of Virginia Office of Sponsored Programs as a fully remote Senior Grants and Contracts Administrator. Jaime has served NCURA for many years as a presenter and attendee, a member of both the Region 3 and National Diversity and Inclusion committees, and as a coordinator for R3RAMP. When not in the office, Jaime loves nothing more than a perfect beach day, and looks forward to traveling more in the future.

To contact any EC Officer or standing committee coordinator, please email ncuraregion3@gmail.com.