About the Gulf Coast Consortia
The GCC delivers important advances in bioscience research and training by empowering individuals to go beyond the limitations of any single institution, discipline or degree program.
Located in Houston’s Texas Medical Center, GCC is one of the largest inter-institutional cooperatives in the world with a focus on building strong collaborative research groups and interdisciplinary training opportunities for PhD students and postdocs. GCC brings together the strengths of its member institutions to build interdisciplinary collaborative research teams and training programs in biological sciences at their intersection with the computational, chemical, mathematical, and physical sciences. GCC provides a unique, cutting edge collaborative training environment and research infrastructure beyond the capability of any single institution. Its mission is to train the next generation of biomedical scientists and to enable scientists to ask and answer questions that cross scientific disciplines to address the challenging biological issues of our time and, ultimately, to apply the resulting expertise and knowledge to the treatment and prevention of disease.
GCC is composed of eight prominent and geographically proximate Houston-Galveston area institutions:
Created in 2001 through an operating agreement signed by the president of each member institution, the GCC represents an unprecedented degree of inter-institutional cooperation to facilitate training programs and research teams contributing in important new or growing disciplines, including interdisciplinary fields such as biomedical informatics, drug development and precision environmental health. Leaders of the GCC member institutions recognize that the scale and complexity of today’s biomedical research problems increasingly require scientists to move beyond traditional single investigator or single discipline projects. They have publicly articulated their support for the GCC as a model for collaboration. They acknowledge the strategic benefits in merging their institutions’ unique and highly complementary strengths and capabilities, recognize the challenges of melding different institutional cultures and missions, and they value the GCC’s effectiveness as a mechanism for managing inter-institutional interactions. In 2001 the GCC was created with a $3.5M gift from the W. M. Keck Foundation to foster collaborative research and training.
The GCC comprises of a training arm, the Keck Center, and a research arm, with multiple communities focused on specific areas of interest to the GCC’s participating faculty.
The GCC Oversight Committee, the GCC’s governing body, is comprised of Institution Representatives appointed by each member institution president, along with training and research executive committee leaders, chairs emeriti and GCC staff leaders. In addition to providing strategic direction, governance and operational guidance for the GCC, this group provides formal approval for new consortium start-up and, through the institutional roles of its members, insures alignment of consortium interests with the strategic interests of GCC member institutions.
GCC Oversight Committee Institutional Representatives for 2024 include: Claudia Neuhauser, PhD, University of Houston (committee chair); Carolyn Smith, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine; Edward A. Jones, MBA, Houston Methodist Research Institute; Eyal Gottlieb, PhD, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Seiichi Matsuda, PhD, Rice University; Kevin A. Morano, PhD, UTHealth; Ken Ramos, MD, PhD, Institute of Biosciences and Technology of Texas A&M University; and Alan Landay, PhD, UT Medical Branch at Galveston.
Also serving on the Oversight Committee are Jim Briggs, PhD, University of Houston, Keck Center Executive Committee chair; Peter Davies, MD, PhD, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, chair emeritus; Karen Ethun, GCC Executive Director; Melissa Glueck, Keck Center Director; Suzanne Tomlinson, PhD, GCC Research Programs Director; and Stan Watowich, PhD, UT Medical Branch at Galveston, Research Consortia Executive Committee chair.
The training arm of the GCC, the Keck Center, currently supports over 50 trainees through competitive grants from federal and state agencies, and has over 400 affiliated faculty. Within the Keck Center, the emphasis is on continuing its 32-year successful tradition of fostering interdisciplinary and multi-institutional training. The Keck Center provides a unique intellectual and physical setting in which to train the next generation of scientists with expertise in multiple disciplines, able to reach across boundaries to advance insight and understanding. The Keck Executive Committee (KEC) formulates training policy in terms of didactic courses, seminars, workshops, retreats, selecting trainees, and advising Keck Fellows and mentors, while leaving individual program directors latitude to tailor the implementation of these to the unique needs of their program. Serving as KEC chair is Jim Briggs, University of Houston.
The GCC’s research arm comprises of consortia and clusters, which serve to catalyze interactions and provide a supportive environment for collaborative research programs that require expertise beyond that available in any one institution. Currently, the Research Consortia support over 700 faculty engaged with consortia in the following areas: Antimicrobial Resistance, Cellular and Molecular Biophysics, Immunology, Innovative Drug Discovery and Development (formerly Chemical Genomics), Mental Health Research, Regenerative Medicine, Single Cell Omics, and Translational Pain Research. Cluster, form when faculty come together around a common goal or interest, establish a working vision, and engage interest among the broader faculty community in the GCC. When there is critical mass to commit to a shared vision, the researchers are encouraged to apply to the GCC Oversight Committee for the formation of a new cluster.
Faculty
GCC leadership is composed of accomplished academics by their own right from a variety of disciplines, whose professional focus is now helping bring light to the gray areas that have traditionally existed between the conventional boundaries separating academic institutions and disciplines.
GCC Staff
Karen Ethun
Karen Ethun
GCC Executive Director
Karen Ethun joined the GCC in 2005 and has been executive director since 2006. She is engaged with all aspects of the GCC including training and research programs and initiatives, special funding initiatives, new initiatives and workshops, and the development of proposals to NIH, NISF and CPRIT. Karen also works with GCC leadership to ensure long-term support and strategic growth of the GCC and with faculty to develop newly forming research and training groups. Prior to joining the GCC, Karen was director of business development for a contract research organization focused on getting drugs, biologics and devices through clinical trials and the FDA approval process. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
Melissa Glueck
Melissa Glueck
Director, Keck Center
Melissa Glueck joined the GCC in 2006 and has been Director of the Keck Center since 2015. She is integrally involved in developing, creating, and administering complex, inter-institutional PhD student and postdoctoral training grant programs in the biosciences that are funded by NIH, CPRIT, and private foundations. Melissa has also been very active in the area of professional and career development for trainees, terming it “value added” to fellowship training. Prior to joining the GCC, Melissa worked at Rice University in the mechanical engineering department and at the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology. She has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, and an M.S. in Human Resource Management Systems from Chapman University.
Suzanne Tomlinson, PhD, MBA
Suzanne Tomlinson, PhD, MBA
Director, Research Programs and Strategic Initiatives
Suzanne Tomlinson, PhD, MBA, is the Director of Research Programs and Strategic Initiatives for the Gulf Coast Consortia. Her primary responsibilities include direction of the 12 GCC research consortia and clusters. In addition, she directs the development of new multi-institutional research initiatives, scientific conferences, grant proposals, curriculum, and manages the John S. Dunn Foundation Collaborative Research Award Program. In addition, she directs the award winning GCC Rigor and Reproducibility Program and is Co-PI of the Cancer Therapeutics Program. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX, in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, specializing in computational drug discovery and lead optimization in the development of West Nile and dengue virus protease inhibitors. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, she developed aldose reductase inhibitors as potential colon cancer therapeutics. Her current research interests remain in therapeutic drug development and commercialization via academia and biotech startup.
Dawn Koob
Dawn Koob
GCC Research Program Administrator
Dawn Koob joined the GCC in 2012 and has responsibilities in many aspects and daily operations of the GCC. Her contributions to the research consortia, clusters and initiatives include coordinating and implementing numerous events such as conferences, symposiums, and workshops as well as the development and design of all publications for advertising and marketing events.
Autumn Marsden, Ph.D.
Autumn Marsden, Ph.D.
GCC Assistant Director of Research
Dr. Autumn Marsden joined the GCC in 2021 as a Research Program Administrator. Her primary responsibilities include development, implementation and administration of multi-institutional research initiatives, multidisciplinary research teams, scholars programs comprised of trainees, and research workshops/curriculum. Additionally, she leads annual research consortia progress reviews, and manages the John S. Dunn Collaborative Research Award Program. She also assists with data analysis, scientific writing and editing of manuscripts and grants and supporting research consortia events and communication as needed. She completed her PhD in Genetics at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA studying Wnt signaling integration in heart development using a zebrafish model. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in Houston, TX, she focused on cAMP signaling integration in hearts using a mouse model.
Kim Smith
Kim Smith
GCC Research Program Administrator
Kim Smith joined the GCC in April 2022, as a Research Program Administrator. Her primary responsibilities include planning and preparation of various consortium meetings, projects, and events, including communication, outreach, tracking budgets, and preparing reports. She communicates and promotes research program events and serves as the GCC point of contact for speakers, attendees, vendors, and suppliers. Prior to working for the GCC, Kim was a Special Agent for the U.S. Secret Service from 1997 until her retirement in 2021. During her tenure with the Secret Service, Kim worked in a variety of roles, with her primary specialties being Physical Protection, Protective Intelligence, and Investigations. Kim ended her career as the Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Field Office.
Vicki Alger
Vicki Alger
Training Administrator and Program Evaluator
Vicki Alger joined the GCC in June 2023. As a Training Program Administrator, her primary responsibilities include planning and preparation of various meetings, projects, and events for the Keck Center. She will be assisting with the organization and facilitation of workshops and program evaluation. She communicates and promotes training program events and serves as the GCC point of contact for speakers, attendees, vendors, and suppliers. As Program Evaluator, Vicki provides evaluations to ensure programs are complying with NIH requirements. Prior to working for the GCC, Vicki was an Instructor and Assistant Professor of Psychology from 2008 until 2023. She has a B.S. in Psychology from Texas A&M University, an M.A. in School Psychology from University of Houston - Clear Lake, and a M.A. in Theological Studies from Houston Baptist University.
Elizabeth Lawrence
Elizabeth Lawrence
GCC Training Program Administrator
Qi Shen
Qi Shen
GCC Accountant
Frequently Asked Questions
The member institutions are:
Baylor College of Medicine
Rice University, University of Houston
University of Texas Health Science Center
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
University of Texas Medical Branch
University of Houston
Institute of Biosciences & Technology-TAMHSC
Houston Methodist Research Institute
The GCC is located in the BioScience Research Collaborative
6500 Main St., Suite 160
Houston, Texas 77030
in heart of the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas.
The GCC was formed in March of 2001 by an Operating Agreement signed by the presidents of the member institutions.
The GCC seeks funding for both research and fellowships, but does not independently endow either; we act as the functional administrators for grants once they are secured.
One of the GCC goals is to provide a vehicle for the member institutions to secure funding that no one institution would pursue alone. By working together, we are able to bring new and innovative grants to the Texas Medical Center area.
For more information, contact
Karen Ethun
713-348-4753
kethun@rice.edu
Additionally, you may write the GCC:
Gulf Coast Consortia
6100 Main Street, MS-141
Houston, TX 77251-1892
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Contact Us: (713) 348-4753
Karen Ethun: kethun@rice.edu