Written by: Roshni Singh, Career Stories team
From Science Writing to Research Development Leadership
For the December 2025 Career Stories, we had the opportunity to interview Joanna Downer, PhD, Associate Dean for Research Development at the Duke University School of Medicine.
With an MA and PhD in nuclear chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BS with Honors from Carnegie Mellon University, Joanna’s professional journey began as a science writer and media relations specialist at Duke University and later at Johns Hopkins University. Along the way, she also developed extensive experience as a scientific editor and eventually became a Certified Professional Coach.
Joanna’s transition into science writing began during graduate school where her advisor asked her to choose the type of project she would want to do “forever.” Recognizing the interest and dedication she exhibited in writing a textbook chapter on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in gastroenterology, her advisor realized science writing would be of interest even before Joanna did. As promised, her advisor created opportunities for her to take on projects in this area, and Joanna quickly recognized “that I made the right career choice.”
Joanna’s first position was as a science writer at Duke, and after a few years she moved to a newly created science writing position at Johns Hopkins. In 2006 she left science writing to return to Duke to work with a Nobel prize winner Duke had recruited from Hopkins. By the time of the economic downturn in 2008, the Nobel laureate had returned to Hopkins and Joanna was primarily managing academic initiatives and writing for the Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke. Anticipating the possibility of difficult financial situations for the Duke School of Medicine, Joanna offered her science writing and scientific editing skills to help the School respond to stimulus package funding opportunities.
With the trust generated by three well-scored stimulus construction grants, School of Medicine leadership invited her to launch an effort to help faculty apply for complex research grants. Given a working title of Director of Research Development, Joanna was an office of one. At first, she kept her responsibilities for the Chancellor and also started helping faculty apply for grants. She gradually expanded the office, starting in 2011, and created new services such as grant-writing seminars and support for individual investigator grants. In 2015, she was promoted to Associate Dean of Research Development. Her office currently has four employees, including herself, with two positions funded by the School of Medicine and two by departments within the School.
In more recent years, Joanna has been drawn to coaching as a way to strengthen faculty success, particularly at career transition points. With School of Medicine support, Joanna became an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Certified Professional Coach in 2022 and began coaching research-intensive faculty at Duke as part of her regular job duties. This service has provided another way to support both junior and senior faculty members.
Joanna was an early member of NORDP, having joined in late 2009 or early 2010. Among her NORDP activities, Joanna has given numerous presentations at NORDP in-person and virtual conferences, served as a co-chair of the Professional Development Committee, contributed to development of the NROAD-to-RD resource led by Samarpita Sengupta, and was elected to the NORDP Board in 2019, where she served as Board Secretary for two years (2021-2023). She was named the 2025 recipient of NORDP’s Holly Falk-Krzesinski Award, which recognizes NORDP members who have contributed outstanding service to the organization, to research development, and to peers. For Joanna, NORDP has provided valuable opportunities to share her skills and knowledge and to learn from others in the field, opportunities that she enjoys tremendously.
In reflecting on her 17-year-plus RD career, Joanna notes that one legacy is that her efforts and those of her RD team have helped bring in more than $1 billion in grant funding to the Duke School of Medicine since 2009. She also knows that her and her team’s work with faculty have helped build grant-writing skills in others, creating lasting impact. RD builds on her science writing and scientific editing skills, and she also believes her experience playing team sports has helped her by providing a foundation for collaboration and effective teamwork. She says, “Some days you’re the star, and some days you’re warming the bench, but everything you do is for the team’s benefit. In RD, we also need to be flexible so that we can meet the needs we see, whatever that requires.”
Joanna is happy to answer any questions, so please feel free to contact her at joanna.downer@duke.edu
To listen to her full interview, please click on this link (you must log in as a NORDP member to access): https://nordp.org/store/viewproduct.aspx?id=24459276; Chapter 54: Joanna Downer
NORDP News 