In June 2016, while still working full-time for Lionakis, Alaina received another emergency communique, this time from MSRI. Their Grants Specialist would imminently go on maternity leave and they needed someone to fill her role–given Alaina’s familiarity with the Institute and her known ability to ‘figure things out,’ could she perform the duties remotely, in the evenings and on weekends? Of course! Alaina would be happy to. During this brief six-month tenure, she shepherded six federal grant reports and three grant proposals (all eventually funded) through submission.
