Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government

TRP Personnel

Toby T. Hecht, Ph.D., Associate Director

Toby T. Hecht has led the Translational Research Program (TRP) for over 15 years. She earned a PhD in viral immunology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and conducted her postdoctoral research at Yale University in somatic cell genetics before coming to the NIH. At the NIH, she has worked in three Institutes–NIDCR, NIAID, and the NCI–over 44 years. Read more…

Peter Ujhazy, M.D., Ph.D., Deputy Associate Director

Peter Ujhazy is the Deputy Associate Director of the Translational Research Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute. Read more…

Naveena Basa Janakiram, Ph.D., Program Director

Naveena B. Janakiram, Ph.D., serves as a Program Director at the Translational Research Program within the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute (NCI). Read more…

Igor A. Kuzmin, Ph.D., Program Director

Igor A. Kuzmin, Ph.D., is a Program Director at the Translational Research Program within the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute (NCI). Read more…

Leah Hubbard, Ph.D., Program Director

Leah Hubbard, Ph.D., is a Program Director at the Translational Research Program within the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute (NCI). Read more…

Bradley Scroggins, Ph.D., Program Director

Bradley Scroggins, Ph.D., is a Program Director at the Translational Research Program within the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute (NCI). Read more…

Emily Hanlen, M.Ed., M.P.H., Program Coordinator and Grants Management Executive Contractor

Ms. Emily A. Hanlen joined the Translational Research Program (TRP) in February 2025 as a Program Coordinator and Grants Management Executive Contractor. Ms. Hanlen assists the TRP with coordination and management activities for the Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) Program. Her responsibilities include, assisting with activities related to the development, implementation, and the analysis of the SPORE program; review of grant applications; preparation and analysis of tracking and reports; identifying and addressing SPORE related issues; and administrative support for SPORE program staff from pre-application to post award.

Kim J. Witherspoon, M.S., M.B.A., Grant Specialist Contractor

Mrs. Kim Witherspoon joined the Translational Research Program (TRP) in September 2024 as a Grant Specialist Contractor. Mrs. Witherspoon assists the TRP with coordination and management of administrative activities for the Specialized Programs Of Research Excellence (SPORE) Program. Her responsibilities include, but are not limited to, assisting with activities related to development and analysis of the SPORE program; review of grant applications; preparation and analysis of reports; identification of SPORE related issues; administrative support for SPORE program staff from pre-application to post award.

  • Updated:

If you would like to reproduce some or all of this content, see Reuse of NCI Information for guidance about copyright and permissions. In the case of permitted digital reproduction, please credit the National Cancer Institute as the source and link to the original NCI product using the original product's title; e.g., “TRP Personnel was originally published by the National Cancer Institute.”

Email