NIAAA/NIH Staff
Pamela Wernett, Ph.D., P.M.P.
Editor in Chief and Contracting Officer’s Representative
Pamela joined ARCR in 2018 as an Associate Editor and advanced to Editor in Chief for the journal in 2021. She has managed the journal contract with IQ Solutions as the Contracting Officer’s Representative since 2020. Pamela also serves as a Senior Health Science Policy Analyst within NIAAA’s Science Policy Branch, Office of Science Policy and Communications, a position she has held since 2018. In this role, she supports various mission-critical efforts for NIAAA.
Prior to joining ARCR and NIAAA, Pamela was a Health Science Policy Analyst in the NIH Office of the Director, Office of Science Policy, specializing in clinical research and bioethics policy development and program management. She was also a Health Program Specialist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, where she supported several neurodegeneration portfolios. Pamela has been with NIH since 2012.
Pamela received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. She is also a certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute.
Laura Manella, Ph.D.
Associate Editor
Laura joined ARCR in 2023 as an Associate Editor. She also serves as a Health Science Policy Analyst within NIAAA’s Science Policy Branch, Office of Science Policy and Communications. In this role, Laura supports science policy and communications activities at NIAAA, including strategic planning, congressional reporting, press relations, science writing, and social media management and analytics.
Laura received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in neurobiology, and then completed a postdoctoral teaching fellowship at Cornell. She entered the NIH workforce in 2017 as an American Association for the Advancement of Sciences Science Policy Fellow at the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders before joining NIAAA.
Devin Plote, Ph.D.
Associate Editor
Devin joined ARCR in 2023 as an Associate Editor. She also serves as a Health Science Policy Analyst in NIAAA’s Science Policy Branch, Office of Science Policy and Communications. In this role, Devin is the lead on legislative and congressional activities, and supports other policy and critical activities for NIAAA.
Prior to joining ARCR and NIAAA, Devin was a policy analyst at America’s Health Insurance Plans, working on legislative and regulatory health care policy and advocacy. She also served as a subject matter expert on issues related to women’s and maternal health, aging, prevention, and population health. Devin was a University of Texas Graduate Archer Fellow, where she interned with the National Association of City and County Health Officials. She also has experience working in the pharmaceutical industry at Immunomedics, Inc., in New Jersey.
Devin received her Ph.D. in cancer biology, with a focus in cancer immunotherapy, from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Contract Staff (IQ Solutions, Inc.)
Sheri Grabus, Ph.D.
Managing Editor
Sheri joined ARCR as Managing Editor in January 2022, bringing more than 10 years of experience in collaborating with researchers and journal editors to promote published research. She previously supplied science writing, copy editing, and media planning services for several NIH institutes. She also served as Press Officer for the National Institute on Drug Abuse from 2010 to 2015.
Sheri has a Ph.D. in psychopharmacology from American University, Washington, DC, and she completed her postdoctoral training at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, VA. As a researcher, she used animal models to explore processes underlying reward and aversion to several substances, authoring several articles within peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Michael D. Sova
Associate Managing Editor
Michael joined ARCR as Associate Managing Editor in September 2022. Prior to his arrival, he worked as a Developmental Editor for Springer Nature, managing a wide variety of the publisher’s clinical medicine titles and building strong relationships with their growing list of clients. Bolstered by more than 12 years of experience in the medical publishing industry, Michael brings a keen sense of organization and communication to help support ARCR staff.
Michael has a B.A. in English from Kean University, Union, NJ.
Susanne Hiller-Sturmhoefel, Ph.D.
Senior Science Editor (consultant)
Susanne has supported the journal for more than 20 years, first in its prior iteration Alcohol Research & Health and now in its current form as ARCR. Throughout her tenure, she has authored 35 articles and several Alcohol Alert newsletters for the journal.
Susanne brings more than 25 years of experience as a science writer and editor, as well as in collaborating with researchers to promote published research articles. She also served as a Senior Science Editor and writer for NIDA Notes, a National Institute on Drug Abuse publication describing leading research advances in the field of substance use disorder.
Susanne has a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. She has authored numerous articles in various peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Riggin Waugh, M.F.A.
Lead Copy Editor
Riggin joined ARCR as lead copy editor in 2020. She has 40 years of experience providing writing and editorial support to numerous NIH institutes and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agencies.
In addition to a graduate-level certificate in publication management from George Washington University, Riggin has an M.F.A. in creative writing from American University, Washington, DC.
Supporting Staff
Rinal Patel, M.P.H.
Project Manager
IQ Solutions, Inc.
Deepa Chhatwal, M.S., P.M.P.
Corporate Monitor
IQ Solutions, Inc.
Martín Castillo
Graphic Designer/Production Specialist
IQ Solutions, Inc.
Kate Shapiro
Digital Marketing Analyst
IQ Solutions, Inc.
I. Diane Cooper, M.S.L.S.
Information Specialist
NIH Library, NIH