Sponsored Programs welcomes Kate Kaminski to the Contracts Team

"It's exciting and amazing to be a part of a process that saves
lives and advances medicine."  - Kate Kaminski

In her new role as a Senior Contracts Negotiator working within the School of Medicine (SOM), Kate Kaminski will apply her deep background in education law and policy in a new realm. Although her work now involves negotiating contracts and agreements for SOM, she is already finding that the impact of her work is similar to when she worked with school law.

For 16 years Kaminski practiced education law, first as the Director of Legal and Policy Services for the Virginia School Boards Association, and thereafter, she worked with the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute and served as a consultant to the Virginia Center for School Safety.

Her new role has her feeling a familiar sense of purpose.

“When I worked for the School Board Association, even though I was advising school boards and superintendents, it all trickled down to what would help students get their best possible education and reach their full potential,” she commented.

Although she’s only been on the job for about a month, Kaminski has already seen how the Contract Team affects the University’s healthcare mission.

“Just yesterday, here in my department, one of my colleagues was working on a compassionate use agreement to get a patient who was not responding to traditional treatments through the legal as quickly as possible get the patient access to a trial drug,” she added.

Kaminski says she looks forward to helping with clinical trials agreements and doing the transactional work that enables the advancement of research and medicine at UVA.

“For someone who’s nonscientific, it’s a way I can be a part of the process of healing people. I drop at the sight of blood, so it’s the only way I can do it,” she laughed.

A 1991 graduate of UVA, Kaminski earned her law degree from the University of Richmond. She enjoys knitting and reading, and is an avid runner, training for her first full marathon in the coming months.