Executive Team

The CPRIT Oversight Committee unanimously voted to hire Kristen Doyle as CPRIT’s CEO effective July 1, 2024. She joined the agency in 2009, serving as CPRIT’s deputy executive officer and general counsel. Ms. Doyle has played a pivotal role in establishing the policies and legal and regulatory foundations that ensure CPRIT maintains the highest standards in carrying out our mission to accelerate cancer cures, treatments, and prevention activities throughout Texas.

Read More

The CPRIT Oversight Committee unanimously voted to hire Kristen Doyle as CPRIT’s CEO effective July 1, 2024. She joined the agency in 2009, serving as CPRIT’s deputy executive officer and general counsel. Ms. Doyle has played a pivotal role in establishing the policies and legal and regulatory foundations that ensure CPRIT maintains the highest standards in carrying out our mission to accelerate cancer cures, treatments, and prevention activities throughout Texas. 

Prior to joining CPRIT, Ms. Doyle was a partner at an Austin-based law firm practicing electric utility and natural gas law and served as Assistant Public Counsel for the Office of Public Utility Counsel. She received a B.S. in Public Policy from Indiana University and her J.D. and M.S. in Technology Commercialization from The University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Doyle, a cancer survivor, is the president of the board of directors for Wonders & Worries, a Texas-based non-profit, and previously served as vice chair of the board of directors for the Central Texas Chapter for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Read Less

Ms. McConnell has oversight of CPRIT’s daily operations, including financial administration, grant administration, information technology services, procurement, human resources, facilities, and CPRIT conference planning. She has been with CPRIT since 2009.

Read More

Heidi joined CPRIT in June 2009 as the chief operating officer. In this role, she also served as the agency’s chief financial officer.

Heidi has more than 30 years’ experience working for the state. Prior to joining CPRIT, she served as a senior budget advisor, special assistant, and governor’s advisor on public health in the Office of Governor Rick Perry. She has also worked at the Legislative Budget Board and the IC² Institute at The University of Texas at Austin.

A native Austinite, Heidi received a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University and a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.

Read Less

Dr. Hiebert comes to CPRIT from Vanderbilt University’s Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he held several leadership roles over the past 28 years, including Associate Director for Shared Resources, Professor of Biochemistry, and the Hortense B. Ingram Chair in Cancer Research.

Read More

Dr. Hiebert comes to CPRIT from Vanderbilt University’s Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he held several leadership roles over the past 28 years, including Associate Director for Shared Resources, Professor of Biochemistry, and the Hortense B. Ingram Chair in Cancer Research.

Raised in a small town in northwest Oklahoma, Dr. Hiebert earned his Ph.D. at Northwestern University and completed postdoctoral training at Duke University. Early in his career as a cancer investigator at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, he launched a research program focused on acute myeloid leukemia, a rare type of blood cancer.  For more than 25 years, the National Cancer Institute has continuously funded Dr. Hiebert’s work, and he has authored over 150 scientific publications. He currently serves as acting chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board and has been a reviewer for major cancer organizations including the National Cancer Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the American Cancer Society.

Read Less

Dr Rechis joins CPRIT from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center where she served as the Executive Director for the Cancer Prevention and Control Platform. Dr Rechis established and led initiatives with her team focused on placed-based investments, health systems strengthening, and impact evaluation which aimed to reduce cancer incidence and improve health outcomes at the population level. 

Read More

Dr Rechis joins CPRIT from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center where she served as the Executive Director for the Cancer Prevention and Control Platform. Dr Rechis established and led initiatives with her team focused on placed-based investments, health systems strengthening, and impact evaluation which aimed to reduce cancer incidence and improve health outcomes at the population level. Prior to joining MD Anderson, Dr. Rechis was the Vice President of the Mission and Strategy for the LIVESTRONG Foundation where she worked on all mission-related initiatives including establishing and leading the Office of Evaluation and Research. Dr. Rechis has a Ph.D. in educational psychology from The University of Texas at Austin, has authored numerous publications and reports, and has spoken to scientific and lay audiences on topics such as community engagement, program evaluation, and cancer prevention and survivorship as well as on her own experience as a 30+ year cancer survivor.

Read Less

Dr. Smith joined CPRIT as its inaugural Chief Due Diligence and Patent Officer in September 2021. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the life science industry across a broad range of business and legal sectors, including cofounding biotech companies and working as patent counsel for major pharmaceutical companies.

Read More

Dr. Smith joined CPRIT as its inaugural Chief Due Diligence and Patent Officer in September 2021. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the life science industry across a broad range of business and legal sectors, including cofounding biotech companies and working as patent counsel for major pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining CPRIT, he advised life science companies at all stages of development. Dr. Smith also served as outside counsel to CPRIT for the past decade, performing due diligence reviews on the IP estate of companies considered for CPRIT product development grants.

Dr. Smith received his J.D. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Houston. He also holds an MBA and a master’s degree in Biochemistry.

Read Less

Mr. Weaver has two decades of fiscal management experience in various capacities at state agencies and institutions of higher education, including the Texas Department of Transportation, The University of Texas System, the Office of Attorney General, and the Commission on the Arts, where he served as Director of Finance. He earned his BBA in Finance at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.  

Mr. Burgess oversees compliance strategy and planning for CPRIT’s grant review, award, and monitoring processes.  As the Chief Compliance Officer, he is also responsible for assessing and ensuring compliance by the Institute’s committee members and employees with applicable laws, rules, and policies, including matters of ethics and standards of conduct, financial reporting, internal accounting controls, and auditing.

Read More

Mr. Burgess oversees compliance strategy and planning for CPRIT’s grant review, award, and monitoring processes.  As the Chief Compliance Officer, he is also responsible for assessing and ensuring compliance by the Institute’s committee members and employees with applicable laws, rules, and policies, including matters of ethics and standards of conduct, financial reporting, internal accounting controls, and auditing.

Mr. Burgess has spent the majority of his career working in local government in California.  Most recently, he was the Administrator of Compliance, Quality, and Outcomes for the Solano County (Calif.) Health and Social Services Department, overseeing Division operations with an emphasis in contracting, utilization management, and compliance.  Mr. Burgess has a particular interest in quality improvement and system development.

Mr. Burgess joined CPRIT in 2015.

Read Less

Prior to CPRIT, John Ellis served in the Office of the Attorney General, successively as Chief of the General Counsel Division, Special Counsel to the First Assistant Attorney General, and Associate Deputy Attorney General for Policy and Communications. He most recently served as the Chief Compliance and Risk Officer for the Texas Department of Information Resources, where he oversaw programs to manage risk and operationalize compliance with legal and ethical standards. Before joining state government, he served as legal counsel in the United States Senate. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of North Texas and a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. 

With more than 15 years of experience leading enterprise programs in information technology, regulatory compliance, and information security, Mr. Emenike integrates cybersecurity, data strategy and governance, and enterprise IT risk management into a unified approach. He is responsible for shaping and executing the strategy that safeguards CPRIT’s information assets while supporting the agency’s mission and operating model.

Read More

With more than 15 years of experience leading enterprise programs in information technology, regulatory compliance, and information security, Mr. Emenike integrates cybersecurity, data strategy and governance, and enterprise IT risk management into a unified approach. He is responsible for shaping and executing the strategy that safeguards CPRIT’s information assets while supporting the agency’s mission and operating model.

Before joining CPRIT, Mr. Emenike served as the founding Director of IT Governance, Risk, and Compliance at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center where he established the enterprise IT GRC function from the ground up. He developed policy frameworks, implemented control testing and assurance mechanisms, and built scalable, audit-ready operations that matured with the institution.

Mr. Emenike holds multiple industry credentials, including CISM and CCISO, along with other professional certifications.

Read Less

With more than 30 years experience in IT and software development, Shannon’s career began in high school, where she built websites and helped run her community’s school-based ISP. While attending college, she

Read More

With more than 30 years experience in IT and software development, Shannon’s career began in high school, where she built websites and helped run her community’s school-based ISP. While attending college, she created a successful web game that propelled her to launch her own game development company. Over the years, she also consulted and contracted across industries, specializing in software development, machine learning, big data and other IT solutions for a wide range of organizations.

Read Less