Associate Dean, Research and Innovation
kgio@email.unc.edu
919.962.1165
Dr. Kelly Giovanello is the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The associate dean for research and innovation is a member of the dean’s senior leadership team and works closely with the senior associate deans in the College and with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovate Carolina, the UNC Institute for Convergent Science and other units throughout the University to support College faculty and Carolina’s research mission as an R1 university. This position serves all parts of the College, including the natural sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities.
Giovanello is the Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor in the department of psychology and neuroscience and has been a member of the Carolina faculty since 2006. She brings a wealth of multidisciplinary collaborative research experience to this position.
A neuroscientist whose research uses behavioral, patient-based and functional neuroimaging approaches to investigate the neural basis of human memory, Giovanello has used several research cores at the UNC Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), including human MRI, radiochemistry and radiopharmacy, and has collaborated with faculty from the schools of medicine, pharmacy and public health as well as across the College. She previously served as co-associate director of BRIC, where she gained valuable experience as to how research cores operate, the challenges research cores face, and creative solutions and opportunities for resolving those challenges.
In her home department, Giovanello was instrumental in developing and launching both a neuroscience minor (2015) and interdisciplinary neuroscience major (2018); these innovative programs now serve as a model for peer institutions. She was also involved in the 2016 Howell Hall renovation that added a state-of-the-art laboratory space for pre-clinical studies, a brain stimulation suite and other shared facilities.
Her neuroscience research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Science Foundation and Siemens USA.
Giovanello previously served as a member of the Arts and Sciences Advisory Committee and is a graduate of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities’ Academic Leadership Program.
She received a B.S. in biology from Stonehill College, an M.S. in neuroscience from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Boston University.
Telephone: 919.962.1165