Staff
Sydney Barrilleaux
Outreach & Communications Manager
sydney.barrilleaux@uga.edu
255C Brooks Hall | 706-542-1706
Sydney was a student at UGA for six years, earning both a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication. She spent two years as a research writing graduate assistant with MarComm before joining OIBR in August 2026.
As the Outreach & Communications Manager, Sydney is responsible over updating and maintaining OIBR’s website, preparing monthly newsletters, sending communications over listserv, and planning and organizing OIBR events. She also assists with the annual report and welcoming new affiliates to OIBR.
Jenny Claire Carey
Post Award Operations Manager
jccarey@uga.edu
252B Brooks Hall | 706-542-6027
As Post Award Operations Manager, Jenny Claire’s primary responsibilities include oversight of a complex grant management caseload, overseeing departmental operating budgets, annual budget development, internally funded seed grants, and pilot grants, as well as serving on the OIBR Management Team.
Jenny Claire graduated from Emmanuel College in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She joined OIBR in April 2018, and she has been with UGA since September 2015.
Kimberly Silvis Cherewick
Assistant Director
ksilvis@uga.edu
255D Brooks Hall | 706-542-6078
Kim serves as Assistant Director of the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research and as a signatory for the University of Georgia Research Foundation. A Certified Research Administrator (CRA), she assists the Director in overseeing the Institute’s research administration, personnel and financial operations, strategic planning, and faculty development initiatives.
Kim leads OIBR’s pre- and post-award activities and works closely with the Institute’s team to provide thoughtful, proactive support throughout the life cycle of sponsored projects. She enjoys helping UGA faculty—from emerging investigators to eminent scholars—advance their research programs. Through this work, she supports OIBR’s mission to facilitate scholarly inquiry and external funding, foster interdisciplinary connections, and champion the social and behavioral sciences across UGA and beyond.
Stacie Isbell
Grants Manager
sisbell@uga.edu
252F Brooks Hall | 706-542-6100
Stacie has been a member of the UGA community since 2002 and joined OIBR in November 2021. In her role, she oversees restricted accounts for Distinguished Scholars and Affiliates of the Institute, serving as the primary contact for Principal Investigators (PIs). Her responsibilities include ensuring project personnel are paid according to project budgets, sponsors, and state guidelines, as well as monitoring accounts and project spending to maintain audit-ready records.
She also ensures all grant spending complies with UGA and funding agency guidelines. Stacie provides monthly project status reports, oversees budget updates, and utilizes UGA systems—including UGA Jobs, UGA Financial Management System, UGA Budget Management System, and UGAmart—to manage and approve all grant expenditures.
L. Renee Moore
Grants Manager
reneemoore1@uga.edu
252E Brooks Hall | 706-542-7202
Renee joined OIBR in June 2019. As Grants Manager, she monitors project spending to ensure that it complies with UGA policy; ensures personnel changes are reflected in the budget; and provides monthly project status reports to Principal Investigators.
Renee has many years of accounting experience and has been with UGA since 2016.
Shradha Patel
Grants Manager
shradha.patel@uga.edu
252D Brooks Hall | 706-542-2841
Shradha has many years of accounting experience from various financial institutions and has been with UGA since 2021.
She worked in the central Sponsored Projects Administration office prior to joining OIBR in December of 2022. She has experience in post-award research administration duties including interpreting and checking for completeness of award documents, ensuring proper set up of awards and chart strings in the Financial Management System, identifying invoicing and financial reporting requirements, and calculating and reconciling amounts to be drawn from Federal agencies.
Brenda Sertich
Senior Accountant
Brenda.Sertich@uga.edu
252C Brooks Hall | 706-542-0124
Brenda joined UGA in June 2026 after 18 years in the banking industry, bringing extensive experience in financial operations, risk management, and customer service. She serves as the payroll coordinator for all positions managed by OIBR, oversees OIBR’s inventory, and coordinates participant compensation accounts, including petty cash, Tango, and Prepaid Visa accounts. She also serves as a departmental P-Card holder.
Brenda provides financial and administrative support to OIBR’s grants managers by processing payment requests, purchase orders, invoices, deposits, expense reports, and other project-related transactions. In addition, she monitors subawards and consulting agreements and assists with processing expenditures and purchases across the department.
Chris Thornton
Grants Coordinator III
csthor@uga.edu
255B Brooks Hall | 706-542-2983
Chris has been with UGA since 2020 where he worked in the central Sponsored Projects Administration office. He joined OIBR in August of 2022 with experience in pre-award research administration duties including assisting Principal Investigators with the development and submission of proposals for external funding. Chris is a Decentralized Limited Signatory Authority for the University of Georgia Research Foundation.
He also has experience in writing grants and searching for funding opportunities as gained during his time working with Wounded Veterans organization and the Charleston County School District.