Skip to main content

Stephanie Doster

Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives
Portrait of Stephanie Doster
Pronouns:
she, her, hers

Links

Stephanie Doster has been part of the University of Arizona’s research enterprise since 2005, when she moved to Tucson. Trained as a journalist, Stephanie was a newspaper reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Times-Picayune, leaving New Orleans for Arizona two months before Hurricane Katrina. The thrill of her newspaper career was slicing through the air as a passenger in an F-16 with an Air Force Thunderbird pilot. 

At UArizona, she has been part of the marketing and communications community across campus and has served on a number of committees and working groups. She was a writer, editor, and manager at the Institute of the Environment, an associate director of research communications, and director of research communications in Research, Innovation and Impact. 

Part of the ICDI executive team since October 2022, she oversees all aspects of the institute’s marketing, communications, and engagement. She also directs marketing and communications for the Space4 Center. In a previous life, she spoke Russian and a tiny bit of Turkmen as a Peace Corps volunteer living on the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan.

Degrees

  • MA, Public Affairs Reporting, University of Maryland at College Park

Gawain Douglas

Senior Manager, Internal Engagement

Gawain supports the Health Sciences Office of Communications internal communications website, Health Sciences Connect, through the coordination, writing and editing of weekly honor and award stories highlighting faculty and staff successes from all Health Sciences colleges and centers. He also curates photos and writes copy for photo galleries, along with writing feature stories focusing on faculty and staff. Prior to joining Health Sciences Communications, Douglas worked as a designer, art director and senior manager at the Arizona Daily Star, the Tucson Citizen and Learning A-Z, an educational technology company. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Arizona, where he was an adjunct professor in the School of Journalism for 15 years. He earned a master’s degree in art and design from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Paul Fini

Senior Project and Performance Manager

Paul manages website development, digital communications and graphic design for the Health Sciences Office of Communications. Originally from Chicago, Paul worked as a freelance designer before relocating to Tucson in 2005. He soon joined the Biocommunications team at the College of Medicine – Tucson. Paul utilizes his vast experience to elevate the digital presence and communication efforts of the Health Sciences.

Kris Hanning

Senior Photojournalist

Kris is the multimedia manager and lead photographer for the University of Arizona Health Sciences Office of Communications. Kris helps with online content creation and story imagery. If you need photographs for various stories or websites, she will either source them or photograph them for you. Kris has a degree in Media and Theater Arts from Montana State University.

Lesley Merrifield

Director, Social Media

Lesley works to elevate the University of Arizona Health Sciences brand through strategic social media management and media relations, ensuring that messaging aligns with strategic priorities and engages target audiences. She has more than 20 years of experience in private and nonprofit sectors, and she has contributed her expertise to foundations, hospitals and the architectural and engineering industries.

Katy Smith

Science Writer

Katy brings over a decade of experience in strategic communications at the University of Arizona. Most recently, she was senior writer and editor with the College of Engineering’s marketing communications team, where she covered everything from the Cancer Engineering Initiative to biomedical innovations and health-focused student projects.

Before that, she supported university-wide philanthropy and alumni engagement efforts as a writer and editor for the University of Arizona Foundation.

Katy is excited to help share the impactful work happening across Health Sciences in ways that are clear, compelling and meaningful.

Dan Suzuki

Videographer and Motion Graphics Artist

Daniel is a videographer and motion graphic animator. He has a broad background working with companies in the nuclear energy, cancer treatment, meal kit and rock climbing industries. 

Phil Villarreal

Media Relations Specialist

Phil, a graduate of the University of Arizona, worked for 17 years as a reporter at the Arizona Daily Star and then for eight years as real-time editor at KGUN-TV. He has written four books and blogs about entertainment at becauseitoldyouso.com. He is married with four children. In his role at the University of Arizona Health Sciences, he writes news releases and brand stories and coordinates media requests.

Xinyu Zhang

Graphic Designer

Xinyu came to the University of Arizona in 2002 to pursue her MFA degree in Visual Communications and has been part of the UA community ever since. She served as a senior graphic designer at the University Alumni Association for 15 years before joining the Health Sciences Communications team. In her leisure time, Xinyu is a fine artist who has exhibited her work in Tucson, Phoenix, and New York City.