The International Consortium of Research Staff Associations (ICoRSA) held its annual Board Election online on 10 December 2025. The strategic governance event brought together member associations for in-house discussions and decision-making on the organisation’s strategic direction for the next two years.
ICoRSA extends sincere thanks to all member associations that participated in this important governance process, particularly Dr Silvia Vilches, Vice Chair of ICORSA, for her leadership as ICoRSA 2025 AGM Chair.
Dr Mikey Creane has been elected as ICORSA’s new Chair, marking a significant leadership transition. ICoRSA wishes to express appreciation to the outgoing Chair, Gianna Avellis, for her dedication throughout the past term of office. Gianna Avellis will continue as Legal Director of ICoRSA. The election reflects both continuity and fresh perspectives, with several board members continuing their service while new directors bring additional expertise to the leadership team.
New Leadership Structure
The restructured board team demonstrates ICoRSA’s commitment to strengthening governance across multiple dimensions.
Dr Silvia Vilches continues as Vice-Chair, bringing stability and accumulated experience to the leadership structure. She led the 2025 AGM as Chair, playing a significant role in facilitating the election process. Dr Rosarii Griffin remains Company Secretary and Legal Director, and continues on her role in developing policies around governance and management, and while Dr Alison Tidy continues in her role as Treasurer, ensuring consistency in financial and administrative operations. Emeritus Chair Dr Gianna Avellis will continue in her role as Legal Director of ICoRSA.
Alongside Dr Mickey Creane’s ascent to Chair, the board has been extended from 5 to 7 members and welcomed two new Ordinary Committee Members: Dr Richard Vance and Dr Lucia Martinelli, expanding the organisation’s directorship from five to seven positions.
Dr Mikey Creane, Chair and Legal Director of ICoRSA
Dr Mikey Creane obtained his BSc in Physiology, MSc in Regenerative Medicine, and PhD in Translational Cell Therapy at the University of Galway between 2005 and 2016. After postdoctoral research training, Dr Creane worked for many years as a Research Fellow and Programme Manager in the Regenerative Medicine Institute at the University of Galway, translating stromal cell therapies from laboratory studies to first-in-human testing. Dr Creane also served as Strategic Lead for the Centre of Cell Manufacturing Ireland, an academic Good Manufacturing Practices facility at the University of Galway. He recently joined HAON Lifesciences as Translational Research Manager, leading preclinical development of novel cell therapies for rare diseases.
Dr Silvia Vilches, Vice-Chair and Legal Director of ICoRSA
Dr Silvia L Vilches leads and researches community-based family and child care provider programmes, including on outdoor free play, as an Associate Professor at Auburn University. As a state outreach Extension Specialist, she leads training for child care providers and families in Tuning in to Kids, a parenting programme trainer that uses Gottman’s approach to emotion coaching for families, developed at the University of Melbourne. She has a special interest in marginalised and rural communities, most recently working with graduate students exploring supports for families with incarcerated parents, and menstrual justice for women in prison. Dr Vilches provides her lengthy experience on boards, including as the former chair of the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars to assist with organizational mandates of ICoRSA. She is currently exploring disaster mitigation approaches for families with young children, using her doctorate in urban planning and her masters in multidisciplinary policy and practice in child and youth care. She serves as the Co-Chair of the Qualitative Family Research Network, and on the inclusion, engagement and access committee of the ‘National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Science’ professionals.
Dr Rosarii Griffin, Company and Legal Secretary and Director of ICORSA
Dr Rosarii Griffin is the Company (and Legal) Secretary and Board Director of ICoRSA. She is also Secretary of the national Researcher Staff Association (IrishRSA) and Chairs her University’s Researcher Staff Association (UCCRSA) at University College Cork, Ireland. Rosarii’s expertise lies in International and Comparative Education (DPhil, Oxford University). She has undertaken research capacity-building projects in Uganda, Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa, and Rwanda, receiving research funding from Irish Aid, UNESCO/World Bank, EU, and Government of Ireland Research (formerly IRC). Rosarii has published five books in ‘International and Comparative Education’ and is currently working on a sixth. Rosarii’s books foster an interdisciplinary approach embracing different cultural perspectives. She advocates for researchers, especially safeguards protecting researcher careers, gender equality, disability, STEM, science communication, and science diplomacy. In addition to research capacity building in developing contexts, Rosarii’s current research focus is on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in relation to pedagogical practices, including teaching, learning, assessing and research. She is specifically interested in ethical practices and AI. Rosarii is a longstanding Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, London, UK.
Dr Alison Tidy, Treasurer and Director of ICORSA
Dr Alison Tidy continues her vital role as ICoRSA Treasurer, bringing 13 years of academic experience focused on plant responses to abiotic stress and climate resilience. Her postdoctoral career, marked by fixed-term contracts, has given her firsthand insight into the precarity facing early career researchers (ECRs), fuelling her advocacy for fairer research cultures. Since 2017, Dr Alison Tidy has Chaired her University’s Early Career Committee and led the UK Research Staff Association (UKRSA) as Chair and Co-Chair from 2018 to 2024, delivering workshops at Vitae and national postdoc conferences on post-pandemic career safeguarding. Joining ICoRSA’s board in 2024, she assumed the Treasurer position in 2025 with impeccable attendance, developing reimbursement and spending policies while overseeing monthly audits, salary approvals, and non-project expenditures. Dr Alison Tidy’s financial stewardship ensures good governance, balancing inflows and outflows to support ICoRSA’s global mission amid evolving research challenges.
Dr Gianna Avellis, Legal Director and Ordinary Committee Member
Dr Gianna Avellis, as Chair Emeritus, will continue her role on the ICoRSA Board as both Legal Director and Ordinary Committee Member, as Dr Gianna Avellis is a founders of ICoRSA. Dr Avellis is leading researcher in ICT at InnovaPuglia SpA, Bari, Italy. She has significant experience in project management of EU projects in Software Engineering, Multimedia Educational Software, and Mobile Telecommunications. She was project coordinator of EU project ERMES (European Multimedia Educational Software). She served the EU Commission as an expert independent evaluator in Software & Services and IT. About 100 publications and conferences and reviewer of several International Journals of Emerging and Interactive Mobile Technologies. Her current research interests are AI and Gender Equality, Generative AI in Education, and AI for Eradicating Online Violence against Women and Girls. Marie Curie fellow at Imperial College of Science Technology Engineering and Medicine, London, UK, research in Requirements Engineering and Software Design. Founder and Chair of MCAA WG on Gender Equality. Founder and vice-Chair of the Italian Women Innovators and Inventors Network ITWIIN www.itwiin.org promoting annual Award for the best Women Inventor and Innovator in Italy. Advisory Board member of Gender Equality. Observatory of Italian CNR, GETA (Gender and Talents). Italian Delegate of Women20 of G20. Dr Gianna Avellis represented the Italian Delegation at the Japan W20 Summit in 2019. Currently, Gianna represents ICoRSA at UNESCO GC in Samarkand and at Women20 Summits in South Arabia, India, Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa.
Dr Richard Vance, Ordinary Committee Member
Dr Richard Vance joins ICoRSA as a new Ordinary Committee Member, bringing expertise as Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at Dublin City University, Ireland, where he serves as deputy chair and incoming chair of the MSc in Psychology and Wellbeing programme. His research focuses on well-being determinants, cognition, ageing, and assistive technology, complemented by active participation in COST networks on research careers. Elected Chair of the Irish Research Staff Association (IRSA), a constituent member of ICoRSA, in 2022, Vance has mastered research policy, careers, and equality, diversity, and inclusion. As Chair of IRSA, he has provided in Ireland’s parliament at the Oireachtas Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science; contributed to public consultations; and engaged government stakeholders to shape policy, including impacts reflected in the 2025 Programme for Government. Dr Richard Vance has established partnerships with unions like IFUT and the national students’ union (AMlÉ), while representing Ireland in Eurodoc since 2024 on PhD scholars’ conditions and working groups. His rights-based, evidence-driven approach strengthens researcher advocacy across national and European levels, positioning him to advance ICoRSA’s equitable research culture mission.
Dr Lucia Martinelli, Ordinary Committee Member
Dr Lucia Martinelli joins ICoRSA as a new Ordinary Committee Member, bringing her distinguished career as a retired Senior Researcher and biologist with expertise in biotechnology, gene transfer, GMO traceability, and risk communication. Holding degrees from the University of Bologna (Biological Sciences), Wageningen University (PhD in Agricultural Genetics), and University of Ferrara (Master in Scientific Journalism), she earned the 2004 Rudolf Hermanns Foundation Prize for pioneering gene transfer research into grapes.Since 2011 at MUSE – Science Museum in Trento, Italy, Martinelli has advanced Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and gender equality, coordinating the Gender Equality Plan Working Group within international collaborations. Her extensive networking spans multiple COST Actions and European projects, fostering cross-border dialogue in research communities. Martinelli serves on boards including “Donne e Scienza” (since 2011), European Platform of Women Scientists – EPWS (president since 2021), ICoRSA Gender Working Group, Italian Research Staff Association, EU W20 delegation, and Navigating Knowledge Landscape Network. An active science communicator, she has authored science-theatre texts and hosted radio programmes, enhancing researcher representation and gender equity globally.
Transitions and Advancing Its Mission of Supporting Research Staff Associations Worldwide
The board extended formal recognition to outgoing Chair Gianna Avellis for her dedicated service during her tenure. The transition marks the conclusion of her two-year term and the beginning of a new chapter under Dr Mickey Creane’s direction for the next two years.
The elections underscore ICoRSA’s commitment to inclusive governance and member participation. By maintaining a balance between experienced continuity and new directorial talent, the organisation positions itself to address evolving challenges within the research staff landscape across its global membership network. With its board now fully constituted for the 2025-2027 term, ICoRSA is prepared to advance its mission of supporting research staff associations worldwide.
About ICoRSA
The International Consortium of Research Staff Associations represents research staff across the globe, providing advocacy, networking, and professional development opportunities for member associations and their constituents in the research sector.
