Our Staff
Laura Bisberg, Finance Director
Laura joined Rockefeller University Press in January 2018, having previously worked in finance for NYU Press and the National Audubon Society. She received a BA from Tufts University and an MSt from Oxford University, both in English Literature.
Camille Clowery, Senior Production Manager
Camille Clowery started as a copy editor at RUP in 2005 and now supervises its production editors, upholding Rockefeller’s high level of quality for its three journals. She plays a key role in vetting new workflows as the Press continues to find efficiencies in production.
Montserrat Cols, Senior Scientific Editor, JEM
Montserrat (Montse) received her PhD from Keele University in the UK. She then trained with Dr. Andrea Cerutti at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and more recently worked with Dr. Jayanta Chaudhuri at the Sloan Kettering Institute. Throughout her training and appointments, her particular focus has been on many aspects relating to B cell biology. Montse joined the Journal of Experimental Medicine as a Scientific Editor in 2020. Montse is in charge of the JEM volunteer program.
Sylvia Cuadrado, Senior Managing Editor, JEM
Sylvia has worked at Rockefeller University Press since 2005.
Daniel Dennis, Business Development Coordinator
Dan joined the Institutional Sales department at RU Press in 2022 to support libraries and subscribing institutions with journal renewals. He studied politics and literature at Wesleyan University before earning an MA in French at New York University. With previous experience teaching on both sides of the Atlantic, Dan’s recent background in the humanities complements a lifelong interest in biology and the natural sciences.
Tim Fessenden, Executive Editor, LSA
Tim Fessenden received his PhD from the University of Chicago under the mentorship of Margaret Gardel, for his work on the cytoskeletal regulation of multicellular invasion. He then moved to MIT where he completed postdoctoral studies on tumor immunology and mechanisms of tumor sensing by dendritic cells. Tim joined the Journal of Cell Biology as a Scientific Editor in 2021, and was appointed Executive Editor of LSA in March 2025.
Erinn A. Grady, Production Designer and Web Specialist
Erinn has been with Rockefeller University Press since 1998, starting out as a Copy Editor for Journal of Cell Biology. Prior to joining the Press, she spent many years working in academic (Boston University Science and Engineering Library), public (Boston Public Library), and law (O’Melveny & Myers, LLP) libraries. She studied psychology and biology at Boston University.
Lindsey Hollander, Managing Editor, JCB
Lindsey has been with the Press since 2005.
Elissa Hunter, Production Editor, JHI
Elissa Hunter joined Rockefeller University Press in July 2020 after more than a decade of working as a copy editor and proofreader, most recently at Marvel Entertainment and The Culture Trip. She has a BS in journalism from University of Florida, an MLIS from Pratt Institute, and no idea how she ended up with two science degrees.
Susan King, Executive Director
Susan joined RUP as Executive Director in June 2015 from the American Chemical Society, where she served as Senior Vice President, Journals Publishing Group for 8 years, after over 15 years at John Wiley & Sons in various editorial, marketing, and management roles. Susan received her PhD in immunology from the University of Glasgow. Susan serves on the Board of Directors of the Stichting OA Switchboard - the OA Switchboard is a mission-driven, community led initiative designed to simplify the sharing of information between stakeholders about open access publications throughout the whole publication journey.
Susan also serves on the American Physical Society Committee on Scientific Publications, and has served as the Vice-Chair of the Scientific Publishing Committee of the American Heart Association.
Sarah Kraft, Financial Analyst
Andrew Lo Bello, Production Editor, JGP
Andrew joined Rockefeller University Press in September 2019 with more than 10 years of experience in STM journal production, most recently at Springer Nature. He studied film at Brooklyn College and is a published photographer.
Andrea Marat, Deputy Editor, JCB
Andrea did her PhD with Peter McPherson at McGill University in Montreal studying the regulation of membrane trafficking by Rab GTPases. She then moved to the laboratory of Volker Haucke in Berlin, where she examined mechanisms controlling mTORC1 signaling. Andrea joined Rockefeller University Press in 2016 as a Scientific Editor at Journal of Cell Biology. In addition to handling research manuscripts, Andrea is responsible for all Reviews and Perspectives published in the journal. She became Deputy Editor in 2024.
Jennifer McGullam, Production Editor, JEM
Jenny joined Rockefeller University Press in 2018. She has been working in scientific and medical publishing for several years, most recently as a Production Editor at Springer Nature. Jenny studied English and linguistics at Dartmouth College and enjoys baking, reading, and exploring the outdoors.
Sati Motieram, Executive Assistant to Executive Director, Office Administrator
Rob O’Donnell, Senior Director of Publishing
Rob is responsible for workflows and systems from submission through publication and beyond. Rob keeps abreast of current publishing issues, initiatives, and technical standards, threading them together to see a bigger picture and integrating them into workflows, ensuring that metadata and content remain highly discoverable. Rob is current Secretary and former Chair of the management board of Life Science Alliance LLC and oversees workflows and technology for that three-publisher collaborative journal. Rob is involved in many industry initiatives. Current service includes Council of Science Editors Industry Advisory Board, Dryad Member Model Advisory Group, OA Switchboard Member Advisory Board, Silverchair Community Advocates, and JATS4R subcommittees.
Miguel Peralta, Institutional Sales Manager
Miguel joined Rockefeller University Press in the fall of 2020. He spent his early career constructing a data-oriented philosophy towards sales and operations at Cambridge University Press, and he is fundamentally guided by the creative as well as the quantitative aspects of sales analysis. A strong believer in hybrid learning, Miguel is passionate about equity in science, Chicanx history and literature, contemporary art, urban planning, and he is foremost a friend to all dogs. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Columbia University.
Zhijuan Qiu, Scientific Editor, JEM
Zhijuan (pronounced zee-jen) received her PhD from the University of Connecticut Health Center, where she focused on developing T cell-based cancer vaccines and understanding the role of pregnane X receptor in innate immunity under the supervision of Dr. Kamal Khanna. After obtaining her PhD, Zhijuan went on to study the role of follicular helper T cells and CD8 T cells during influenza infection in the lab of Dr. Laura Haynes at the University of Connecticut Health Center for a year, and memory CD8 T cell development in the lab of Dr. Brian Sheridan at Stony Brook University. Zhijuan joined Communications Biology as an Associate Editor in February 2022 before joining the Journal of Experimental Medicine as a Scientific Editor in March 2023.
Rochelle Ritacco, Preflight Editor
Rochelle is responsible for the preparation of figures for RUP publication—checking production quality, conforming style, and clarity of presentation. She is a skilled digital artist with expertise in many media applications. Rochelle began freelancing at RUP in 2007 and shortly thereafter joined the staff. Prior to RUP, she assisted the campus photographer at Monmouth University. Rochelle received her BA in communications from Seton Hill University and has completed two certificate programs, Digital Art (BCC) and Filmmaking (NYU). She is on the board of the Belmar Art Council. Rochelle lives along the dazzling north Jersey shore with her husband and daughter.
Meighan Schreiber, Managing Editor, JGP & JHI
Meighan has over a decade of experience with online peer review systems and running an editorial office through her service as a Managing Editor of Health Services Research, Health Research & Educational Trust's flagship publication and an official journal of AcademyHealth. Meighan was most recently the Managing Editor of Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
Ben Short, Senior Manager of Science Communications and Marketing
Ben did his PhD in cell biology with Francis Barr at the University of Glasgow, UK and the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany. He then spent four years as a postdoctoral fellow with Elaine Fuchs at The Rockefeller University in New York before joining RUP in 2008 as a Science Writer for Journal of Cell Biology. In addition to his articles for the journal, he contributes to the Press’s audio and video podcasts.
Dan Simon, Scientific Editor, JCB
Dan received his PhD from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore where he investigated the functions and regulation of A-type lamins with Katherine Wilson. He then moved to Rockefeller University in New York for a postdoc with Michael Rout studying oncogenic defects at the Nuclear Pore Complex. Dan joined the Rockefeller University Press in 2020 as Scientific Editor at the Journal of Cell Biology.
Laura Smith, Senior Preflight Editor
Laura began her career at Rockefeller University in 1996 in the Office of Public Affairs. In 1997, she joined Rockefeller University Press as assistant to then director Michael Held. In 2002, under the guidance of Mike Rossner, Laura began image screening. She has since traveled abroad and throughout the United States training others in the detection of image manipulation. Laura lives in the Hudson Valley with her daughter and rescue kitty "Wiki".
Tim Spencer, Executive Editor, JCB
Tim received his PhD from the City University of New York, where he studied the signaling mechanisms that underlie the promotion of axonal growth and regeneration following injury in the laboratory of Marie Filbin. He then moved to the laboratory of Chris Henderson at Columbia University, where he examined molecular markers of postnatal motor neuron maturation and elements of motor-specific disease. Tim served as a senior scientific editor at Nature Neuroscience since 2011 before moving to RUP to become the Deputy Editor of Journal of Cell Biology in 2016.
Gabriele Stephan, Scientific Editor, JCB
Gabriele received her PhD in biochemistry from Leipjzig University in Germany, where she investigated the role of ion channels in pain transmission under the supervision of Prof. Peter Illes. She then spent a year in Dr. Ines Liebscher’s lab at Leipzig University to study activation mechanisms of adhesion GPCRs. She pursued her postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Dimitris Placantonakis at NYU Langone, focusing on the role of an adhesion GPCR in glioblastoma. Gabriele joined the Journal of Experimental Medicine as a Scientific Editor in September 2024 before joining the Journal of Cell Biology in March of 2025.
Xin (Cindy) Sun, Deputy Editor, JEM
Xin (Cindy) received her PhD from Johns Hopkins University under the supervision of Fengyi Wan, studying NF-kB signaling in T cell activation and DNA damage response during tumorigenesis. She then pursued her postdoctoral research with Robert Darnell at The Rockefeller University, focusing on RNA-protein crosstalk in neurological diseases. She joined the Journal of Experimental Medicine as a Scientific Editor in 2018 and became Deputy Editor in 2023. As Deputy Editor, Cindy leads JEM's Continuing Medical Education activities, supervises JEM Collections, and is in charge of JEM Reviews and Perspectives.
Yuko Tonohira, Marketing and Design Manager
Yuko joined RUP in June 2020 after spending 15 years as Medical Illustrator for the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine. She has also provided design and artwork for environmental and arts communities. She holds BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design.
Gaia Trincucci, Deputy Editor, JEM
Gaia received her PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Basel, Switzerland, studying the role of Type III interferons in chronic hepatitis C. She pursued her postdoctoral work with Abraham Brass and Kate Fitzgerald at University of Massachusetts Medical School, focusing on uncovering novel host factors in viral replication. She joined the Journal of Experimental Medicine as a Scientific Editor in 2018 and became Deputy Editor in 2023. As Deputy Editor, Gaia leads the commissioning and publication of JEM Viewpoints and Found in Translation and oversees strategies to promote Diversity and Inclusion at JEM.
Lucie Van Emmenis, Senior Scientific Editor, JEM
Lucie received her PhD from University College London, UK, under the supervision of Prof. Alison Lloyd studying the role of Schwann cells in peripheral nerve injuries. She then joined the lab of Dr. David S. Rickman at Weill Cornell Medicine where she studied the role of the microenvironment in promoting advanced prostate cancer. She joined the Journal of Experimental Medicine as a Scientific Editor in 2022 and became Senior Scientific Editor in 2024. Lucie is in charge of JEM People & Ideas.
Rory Williams, APR, Director of Communications and Marketing
Rory joined Rockefeller University Press in January 2016 from the American Thoracic Society, where he served as director of communications and marketing. There he led initiatives to market the ATS’s three scientific journals, annual International Conference, educational programs, and membership. Prior to the ATS, he was an associate editor at String Letter Publishing and worked for daily newspapers on the West Coast, including the Palo Alto Daily News. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Humboldt State University. He is Accredited in Public Relations by the Public Relations Society of America and the Universal Accreditation Board.
Samantha Wolner, Senior Production Editor, JCB
Samantha joined Rockefeller University Press in January 2018. She was most recently a Production Editor at Cambridge University Press and has worked for art magazines and cultural museums. She received a BA from St. John’s University and an MA from Columbia University.
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