Administrative Archives - Sanford Burnham Prebys

Leadership Type: Administrative

Luke Dumas serves as the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, overseeing the identification, solicitation, and stewardship of philanthropic funding from grantmaking foundations and corporations.

He has more than 13 years’ experience in philanthropy with a focus on institutional giving, grant writing, and philanthropic communications. Prior to joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, he worked on major campaigns with the East Coast Zoological Foundation and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and has held positions at Serving Seniors and National University.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and literature from the University of Chicago and a Master of Science in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh.

Liz Hincks is Director of Communications, overseeing strategic messaging, content development, social media strategy, media relations, video production, website management and collaborations with Philanthropy.

Her role focuses on guiding communication initiatives that enhance the institute’s reputation and engaging diverse audiences through innovative digital and print campaigns.

Prior to joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, Liz worked in communications and marketing with a focus on graphic and digital communications and held positions at the Salk Institute and Tufts University.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Boston University.

Andrea Etzi is the Human Resources Director at Sanford Burnham Prebys, joining the Institute in 2022. He had been in the HR field for more than 10 years.

He oversees all the daily operations of the Human Resources department, including the HR Information System, Talent Acquisition, Training and Development, Benefits and Compensation, Employee Relations, and Performance Management. He assists the General Counsel with HR-related legal aspects and the development of institute-wide Policies and Procedures.

Before joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, Andrea held positions at The Family Health Centers of San Diego, a non-profit health center offering medical, dental, and mental health services to low-income residents, and at Radiometer (Danaher Corporation), a medical device development company.

Andrea has a Bachelor of International Law and holds a Human Resources Management Certificate from the University of California San Diego.

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 Senior 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.