Leadership Type: Administrative

David Williams is the Director of Procurement , Materials Operations and Procurement Systems for Sanford Burnham Prebys. He has 29 years of supply chain and global logistics experience, joining Sanford Burnham Prebys in 2021.

His department supports diagnostic testing, manufacturing of medical products and medical devices, biologic processing, contract development and manufacturing organization and oversees the institute’s procurement activities of purchase materials, equipment and services.

Prior to Sanford Burnham Prebys, David worked as a senior director/director supply chain at Abenza San Diego & Bristol, PA; Vital Therapies; and Prometheus Laboratories (Nestle’).

Melissa serves as the Director of Philanthropy Operations for Sanford Burnham Prebys. She oversees the areas of revenue strategy, analytics, database optimization, moves management, pipeline development, reporting, donor research and annual fund.

Melissa has worked in philanthropy for more than 13 years, with a focus on operations and annual fund. Prior to joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, she held positions at San Diego Jewish Academy, California Western School of Law and National University.

She holds a Bachelor of Art degree from the University of California, Irvine and a Master of Business Administration degree from National University.

John Reed is the Director of Facilities since 2018 and has been a member of the Sanford Burnham Prebys Facilities management team since 2005. He oversees facilities operations, including capital planning, major renovation, new construction and deferred maintenance projects, work requests, preventive maintenance, janitorial and security projects.

Prior to joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, John worked for Weather Engineering, honing his expertise in HVAC design, repair and controls.

John retains certifications in HVAC Systems Design and Controls (associate degree in HVAC 1996, UCSD extension certification 2010) and is a certified LEED Accredited Professional (2009).

Jennifer Ramil, M.B.A., serves as the Director of Environmental Health & Safety. She joined Sanford Burnham Prebys in 2024.

Previously, Jennifer was Research Safety Services Manager at San Diego State University, where she oversaw and harmonized multiple safety programs (biosafety, chemical hygiene, radiation and field safety) and implemented new, high-impact, multi-phased software programs used by more than 300 labs and 1,200 researchers.

Jennifer has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from SDSU and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania.

She is a registered Biosafety Professional with ABSA International (Association for Biosafety and Biosecurity) and a certified Project Management Professional.

Bernardo Pizarro serves as the Director of Financial Planning & Analysis for Sanford Burnham Prebys and brings more than 25 years of accounting and finance experience from both the profit and non-profit arenas, the last 15 years at Sanford Burnham Prebys.

He is responsible for the Institute’s forecasting, budgeting, analysis and financial reporting packages, and ultimately providing strategic business and financial insights that inform and influence decision-making for all levels of the Institute.

Prior to joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, Bernardo worked as an Operations Financial Controller at SAIC for 10 years.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from California State University Fullerton.

Amy Peake is the Senior Director of the Office of Sponsored Research with 29 years of experience in non-profit research administration, of which 14 have been with Sanford Burnham Prebys.

Amy is responsible for the direction and oversight of pre-award grant and contract administration and post-award, non-financial administration. She provides leadership in developing policies and procedures to ensure institutional compliance and adherence to agency sponsor terms and conditions. She also provides guidance and support to faculty and research staff related to complex sponsored research requirements and regulations.

Prior to Sanford Burnham Prebys, Amy worked at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, La Jolla Institute for Immunology and the University of Chicago.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in public health administration from Indiana University, Bloomington, and is a member of Society of Research Administrators and Association of Independent Research Institutes.

Scott McNinch serves as the Director of Business Development for Sanford Burnham Prebys. He has more than 25 years of experience in business development, licensing and business strategy for biotech and life sciences. He has been with the institute for eight years.

At Sanford Burnham Prebys, Scott is responsible for building and managing industry partnerships, including the promotion of institute technologies for commercial development; negotiation and management of license, sponsored research and other agreements with industry partners; and advising commercialization strategies for institute technologies.

Prior to joining Sanford Burham Prebys, Scott held positions at PATH, IO Therapeutics, Y’s Therapeutics, Genencor International, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Ernst & Young and Gensia.

Scott attended UC San Diego as a Regents Scholar and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese studies and a Master of International Affairs.

Racheal McCabe serves as the Senior Director, Principal Gifts for Sanford Burnham Prebys. She works closely with the Institute’s principal donors to help them achieve their philanthropic goals.

Racheal has nearly three decades of fundraising experience in the academic medical and research fields.

Prior to joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, Racheal worked for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the University of Southern California, Children’s National Medical Center, Hoag Hospital and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Racheal holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Classical Civilization from the University of California, Los Angeles.

As Deputy General Counsel for Sanford Burnham Prebys, Dave heads the intellectual property department and is responsible for its global patent strategy. Dave also oversees all litigation matters and provides general legal advice to the Institute.

Dave has worked at Sanford Burnham Prebys for five years. Prior to joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, he was general counsel at Cutwater Spirits and before that, an associate at the Knobbe Martens law firm in San Deigo.

Dave graduated cum laude from Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) in 2010. He also graduated cum laude from UC San Diego, majoring in bioengineering, and worked in the lab of Richard Lerner, MD, a pioneering physician-scientist and former president of Scripps Research, before attending law school.

Eric Hicks is the Senior Director of Information Technology at Sanford Burnham Prebys, and serves as the overall head of the information technology at the institute.

Eric has been involved with technology in areas of increasing responsibility for more than 25 years in the non-profit medical research sector, the biotechnology sector—including drug manufacturing at IDEC Pharmaceuticals and Biogen—as well as large-scale Internet space organizations at Akamai Technologies, managing thousands of servers worldwide.

He oversees the institute’s scientific computing technology, business systems, desktop and mobile support, the library and other ancillary systems/technologies.

Eric attended the University of California, Berkeley, and attained his undergraduate degree at UC San Diego.