Inspiring Hope Through Research

March 4, 2019

As a trained certified public accountant (CPA), Raquel Espinosa followed a unique path to McLean, where she oversees the hospital’s Research Administration. However, the detail-oriented work involved in becoming a CPA turns out to have been a perfect training ground for Espinosa, who uses her love of organizational and financial management to oversee the research infrastructural support for 150 principal investigators and a total research activity of approximately $50 million.

Although she lived in the United States for the first 10 years of her life, Espinosa spent the next 17 years living in Uruguay, a small South American country located between Brazil and Argentina. After becoming a CPA, she moved back to America the week following graduation and quickly found her calling while working at Tufts Medical Center.

Raquel Espinosa
Raquel Espinosa, senior director of McLean Hospital’s Research Administration

“From Tufts, I moved to Massachusetts General Hospital, where I was challenged to learn and grow quickly in a small department. I was able to hone my skills and better understand the needs of researchers and how to help them,” she said. “I discovered a passion for research and the hope that it inspires.”

Espinosa joined the McLean team in 2009 as a per diem employee and quickly became an invaluable resource to the research community. In 2011, she was promoted to director of Research Administration and became senior director in 2013.

“McLean has outstanding researchers and there are so many opportunities to make a difference by improving processes and leveraging our resources to set ourselves to the highest standards,” said Espinosa. “I am very proud of the skilled and talented team of grant administrators that support our research program. Research Administration is quickly evolving and for this we continue to develop short- and long-term strategies to enrich our program and become better at what we do, knowing that our results will directly impact our research community.”

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