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Efren Cazares

Finance Administrator

Independent Researcher | Washington, DC

Technologies

My Portfolio Highlights

My New Course

Intermediate Python

My New Course

Intermediate Python

Research Operations & Analytics Powered by R, Python, and Power BI

My Work

Take a look at my latest work.

course

Intermediate Data Modeling in Power BI

Power BI
course

Intermediate Python

course

Intermediate R

course

Intermediate Data Modeling in Power BI

Power BI

DataCamp Course Completion

Take a look at all the courses I’ve completed on DataCamp.

Courses

Introduction to Python
Introduction to Power BI
Intermediate Python
Introduction to R

My Work Experience

Where I've interned and worked during my career.

The National Institutes of Health | Mar 2024 - Present

Grants Management Specialist

• Performs pre-award and post-award review and monitoring of competing, noncompeting, transfer, and renewal grant applications to ensure that the applicants and awardees comply with established administrative and financial policies using 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Guidance, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants Policy Statement, and NIH Policy Notices. • Resolves complex issues with applicants and grantees on financial and management issues relevant to their applications, Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), prior approval requests, clarification of policy and procedures, or requests for additional information. • Continually monitors assigned grants to track the pace of expenditures and prevent lapse of funds or over expenditures. • Reviews requested prior approval changes and approves those that are consistent with NIH policies and procedures. • Collaborates with program officers and institutional leadership to ensure that the grantee's performance is accepted and issues award notices. • Develops internal standard operating procedures and training materials. • Recipient of the NIMHD Executive Officer’s nomination to join NIH’s Management Seminar Series.
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Children's National Hospital | Sep 2021 - Mar 2024

Research Business Manager

• Responsible for the complete life-cycle management of all sponsored research activities including - submissions, budgeting, agreement negotiation, account reconciliation, reporting and close-out procedures. • Managed a variety of sponsored research mechanisms such grants, cooperative agreements, task orders, endowments and clinical trials. • Managed all sponsored research activities for The Center for Translational Research at Children's National including direct supervision of 5 research administrators. • Oversaw a yearly budget of over $50,000,000 in research activities spanning grants, clinical trials, cooperative agreements and contracts. • Maintained a thorough understanding of various federal funding mechanisms, grant programs, activities codes and notices. • Facilitated onboarding trainings and monthly sessions for the department on federal and institutional updates impacting research activities. • Operated as a primary point of contact to various federal offices, private agencies/foundations and commercial companies on ongoing matters relating to sponsored research programs. • Served as the primary liaison with internal stakeholders, including Finance, IRB, Legal and HR to ensure effective working relationship and to develop strategies to overcome any challenges. • Responsible for providing training, implementing processes and policies and building a high performing team that provides an enhanced level of customer service to staff and external funders • Supervised a team of five with varying backgrounds in Finance, Grants Management, Contracts and Clinical Trials Administration.

Children's National Hospital | Aug 2019 - Sep 2021

Sr. Grants and Finance Administrator

• Responsible for the complete life-cycle management of all sponsored research including - submissions, compliance oversight, financial management, reporting and close-out activities. • Operated as a primary point of contact to various federal offices, private agencies/foundations and commercial companies on ongoing matters relating to sponsored research programs. • Managed a variety of sponsored research mechanisms such grants, cooperative agreements, task orders, endowments and clinical trials. • Maintained a thorough understanding of various federal funding mechanisms, grant programs, activities codes and notices. Provided monthly training sessions on federal updates impacting institutional research activities. • Ensured adherence to the sponsoring agency guidelines and contract terms by all parties working for the program throughout the life of the project. • Analyzed complex financial data to evaluate financial performance, feasibility and sustainability of sponsored programs. • Reviewed and approved all financial requests for compliance with administrative and financial requirements per the OMB circulars. • Developed novel institutional policies pertaining to sponsored research administration. • Evaluated organizational requirements in conjunction with organizational leadership to design solutions optimizing employee onboarding and continuing education trainings. • Reviewed all sponsored project proposals for assigned faculty in the center prior to Director, Grants and Contracts review and signature. Review was based upon accuracy, content, adherence to institutional, government and other sponsored guidelines. • Facilitated the submission of documentation toward IRB and IACUC review for sponsored research projects. • Applied knowledge of principles and practices pertaining to developing and administering clinical trials

Children's National Hospital | May 2018 - Aug 2019

Grants and Finance Administrator

• Consistently demonstrated adherence to the standards for the responsible conduct of research. • Planned, conducted and managed research projects within federal and institutional regulations and policies under the direction of the principal investigator. • Processed charges, determined the allowability and allocability of charges, verified availability of funds and obtains proper authorizations in an accurate and timely manner (i.e., subrecipient, animal, lab charges, pharmacy cost, equipment). • Reviewed payroll distributions and ensures they are correct; for staff allocated to cost centers on a bi-weekly basis, processes PDR’s in a timely fashion. • Provided backup support during annual OMB-133 audit. • Monitored monthly expenditures to ensure the award is being performed in a timely manner and will not have a deficit. • Assisted in fiscal year end closeout process for grant funding. • Assisted with the creation and dissemination of accurate and timely reports to promote effective grants/contracts management.

Pulmonary Hypertension Association | May 2016 - May 2018

Finance and Data Associate

• Tasked with maintaining PHA’s database servers and processes, including monitoring of system health and performance, to ensure high levels of performance, availability, and security • Provided financial guidance and support to department directors towards providing in-depth analyses to forecast project costs, develop staffing plans and provide various financial reports, including actual and projected costs for programs • Developed standards and policies for database utilization and user security requirements to ensure compliance. • Conducted statistical analysis and generated reports to provide data driven insights on program evaluation, planning and solicitation efforts. • Ensured the efficient administration and operations of industry-sponsored grant programs. • Provided routine support for the following functional areas: Procurement and Suppliers , Expense Management , Banking and Settlement , Financial Accounting, Business Assets , Projects , Budgeting and Financial Planning, Payroll and Time Tracking.

My Education

Take a look at my formal education

Bachelors in ChemistryWillamette University
Masters in Public HealthThe George Washington University

About Me

Experienced in research administration, data management, and analysis with strong skills in R, Power BI, and Python. Skilled in financial management, data visualization, and statistical modeling to support impactful, data-driven research outcomes.

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