Nina Preuss: Connecting NIH scientists to data

2010 Rising Star award winner Nina Preuss created an online collaborative scientific community that helps scientists find software, data and other available resources about neuroimaging informatics.

Name: Nina Preuss (pronounced NEE-na PROOS)

Age: 46

Organization: Turner Consulting Group

Title: Project Manager

Nominated for: Creating an online collaborative scientific community that helps scientists find software, data and other available resources in the field of neuroimaging informatics. Preuss’ mix of scientific, technical and marketing knowledge has helped the National Institutes of Health exceed its targets for the Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse, both in terms of participants and tools.

First IT mentor: Ibrahim Elsayed, who taught me that Israelis and Arabs can work together to reach each other’s aspirations.

Latest accomplishment on the job: Redesigning portions of the Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse user interface, based on usability tests with neuroscience grad students and neuroimaging software developer power users.

Career highlight: Winning the “Best Overall” 2009 Excellence.Gov award.

Favorite job-related bookmark: I’m torn between AWStats and Google Analytics.

Favorite app: Google Translate — particularly to Japanese.

Dream non-IT-related job: Long-term catamaran cruiser and famous abstract oil painter (not posthumously).

Read more on Nina Preuss: Organizer learned skills at home


Read the next Rising Star profile or view the full list of winners.