New members of Finance and Governance Committee

In the Summer, three additional members were recruited for the ARMA Finance and Governance Committee (F&GC). We would like to extend a warm welcome to:

• Chaitali Desai, Head of Research Compliance, University of BristoI
• Robert Patterson, Faculty Research Manager, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London
• Sarah Everett-Cox, Chief Finance Officer, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

The committee was created in 2017 to strengthen ARMA governance in the areas of finance, human resources and organisational infrastructure to ensure that ARMA continues to have a sustainable infrastructure and appropriate governance structures.

Chaitali Desai is Head of Research Compliance at the University of Bristol. She is a qualified solicitor with over 17 years’ experience in the private legal sector, before joining the University in 2021 just as the sector was waking up to the impact of expanding national security regulation. She has designed process and policy, developed widespread awareness, training, and understanding of how to conduct secure research in a shifting geopolitical landscape.

Commenting on joining the committee, Chaitali said, “I have been a member of ARMA for three years and I am excited to join the Finance & Governance Committee to help build on their commitment to develop research management and administration in an essential, people-centric sector.”

Rob Patterson is Faculty Research Manager at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London. As the Professional Staff lead for a research-intensive faculty, this role is fairly broad and spans all areas of research management but is especially focused on research finance reporting and compliance, governance and process change. In previous roles Rob has worked in research development at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and as an editor in academic publishing.

On joining the committee, Rob said, “I’m really looking forward to expanding my networks and learning from colleagues across the UK as part of the F&GC and helping to introduce new initiatives which keep our brilliant network running!”