Director of Investigator Development at the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI), WVU Health Sciences. Dr. Lakoski received a doctoral degree in pharmacology from the University of Iowa, completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, and held faculty positions at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, including appointment as interim chair of the Department of Pharmacology at Penn State (tenured Professor). She joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology (2002; tenured Professor) and was appointed Professor in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Pittsburgh (2008). She has held numerous leadership responsibilities at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences including service as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Career Development and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Science Education Outreach; she also served as the Founding Executive Director of the Office of Academic Career Development (2002-2009) and the Office of Science Education Outreach (2010-2014) and was Director of the RIMED Postdoctoral Fellows Program (2006-2014) – a unique training program for international postdoctoral fellows. Engaged in both graduate and postdoctoral education, she served as the inaugural Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (2005-2010) and received The University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association Postdoctoral Advocate Award (2007) for improving the postdoctoral community. Her biomedical research activities have included 30 years of continuous support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research studying the pharmacology of the aging brain, drugs of abuse and infectious diseases, including participation as a reviewer in numerous study section panels. Following retirement from the University of Pittsburgh, she served as Vice President of Research and Graduate Education and Chief Science Officer at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (2015-2016) and directed an innovative professional development program for established research faculty. Since joining the WVCTSI and West Virginia University in 2017, she has initiated new programs to support faculty with establishing their research programs. Dr. Lakoski has focused on providing programs to clinical and translational investigators to successfully develop their research programs, including leadership of grant writing groups for preparation of competitive grant submissions to the NIH and other national funding agencies. With long-standing interests in developing the next generation of biomedical investigators, she is frequently an invited speaker on the topics of mentoring and grant writing – and she is delighted to empower the career success of creative individuals who will improve the nation’s health.