Charles L. Gruder, Ph.D.
Acting Program Director

Dr. Gruder was the first permanent director of TRDRP from 1990 to 1994 and is currently the acting director. Dr. Gruder also serves as the Executive Director of the Special Research Programs, three statewide research programs that the university administers for the state.
Dr. Gruder has more than 35 years experience in academia, science, and research administration, having held a variety of leadership positions.

Sandra Alexander
Program & Web Assistant

Sandra Alexander joined TRDRP in January, 2005 with over 7 years of experience at the University of California. She holds a B.A. degree in Liberal Studies from San Francisco State University. She performs a variety of administrative duties and evaluates the Non-UC and UC agreements. Other responsibilities include maintenance of the program’s website and assisting the Media Designer in other production materials.

Kamlesh Asotra, Ph.D.
Research Administrator for Cardiovascular Disease & General Biomedical Sciences

Kamlesh Asotra joined the staff in November 2003. His research background is in a myriad of biomedical research disciplines including heart disease, stroke, cancer, reproduction, metabolism, neuroscience and drug delivery.

M.F. Bowen, Ph.D.
Research Administrator for Cancer & Pulmonary Disease

Prior to joining the staff in August 1998, M.F. taught basic and comparative biology while an assistant professor at Northern Illinois University and conducted research at SRI International as the PI on several NIH RO1 grants in cellular neurophysiology. She has also served as a consultant to several Fortune 500 corporations.

Jewel Charles
Program Assistant

Jewel joined TRDRP staff as a Program Assistant in March 2003. Jewel brings years of administrative work experience to TRDRP from the health care field. She works closely with the director and staff as well as Scientific Advisory Committee members and performs a wide variety of administrative and other duties.

Carlin Colbert
Program Assistant

Carlin is a Program Assistant with TRDRP. She joined the staff in February 1998. Carlin has extensive administrative skills and assists the Program Administrators in administrative operational needs on a daily basis. Additionally, she has over 9 years of work experience at the University of California.

Sharon L. Davis
Media Designer

Sharon is the Media Designer for TRDRP. Her areas of responsibility are the design/production of TRDRP publications and maintenance of the program’s website.
She joined TRDRP in 1999 with experience in Advertising and Marketing. She holds a B.A. in Fine Arts and Design from the Academy of Art College in San Francisco.

Phillip Gardiner Dr. P.H.
Research Administrator for Social Behavioral Sciences, Nicotine Dependence &
Policy Research

Phil joined TRDRP in February 1997, and is a trained survey researcher and evaluator. He has written numerous articles on health disparities and African Americans menthol cigarette use, is the editor of the TRDRP Newsletter, Burning Issues, and was the motive force behind the adoption of the Community-based Participatory Research Awards. Among other external tobacco-related activities, Phil has been the Chairperson for Clear Way Minnesota’s Priority Population Research Review Panel.

Teresa E. Johnson
Administrative Coordinator

Teresa is the Program Administrator for TRDRP, joining the program in 1995. She develops, coordinates, manages and refines all administrative operations and supervises the administrative staff. In addition, she is responsible for the organization, preparation, set-up and implementation of all systems, processes and procedures as well as the day-to-day management of program projects. Teresa holds a B.A. in Mass Communications from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Laurie Kimbler
Grant Analyst for Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, General Biomedical Sciences, & Pulmonary Disease

Laurie joined the staff at TRDRP in July 2007 as the Biomedical Grant Analyst. She holds a B.S. degree from California State University, Fresno. Prior to coming to the University of California Laurie taught high school agricultural science for 9 years and has an extensive accounting background as well. She has a strong interest in biomedical science and has completed several intensive biotechnology training courses at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Christine Tasto-Olsen
Grant Analyst for Social Behavioral Sciences, Nicotine Dependence &
Policy Research

Christine joined TRDRP in November 1999 as a Grant Analyst. She holds an MPA degree from the California State University, Hayward. Prior to working for the University of California, Christine worked for the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.