Dara Kozak is the Director of Operations of the High Throughput Genomics Core (HTGC) for clinical and translational medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Dara oversees the Lab, Bioinformatics, IT, and Project Management teams to uphold the high standards of a CAP/CLIA-certified laboratory. In addition to that, she works closely with the HTGC Lab Directors and upper-level management in decision-making, budgeting, and working toward the HTGC’s long-term goals. She takes great pride in the work that the HTGC performs and is constantly working towards the vision to improve the lives of patients through the development and delivery of comprehensive genomic testing.
Dara has over 20 years of experience in areas such as project management, managing multi-functional teams, quality assurance, data warehousing, master data management/data governance, managing custom applications, and IT infrastructure. Dara started at UPMC in 2012 and joined the UPMC Genome Center at its inception in 2017 as a Senior Manager of Data and Technology. She eventually transitioned to the Director of Operations where she helped coordinate the transition of the UPMC Genome Center to the High Throughput Genomics Core at the University in the Spring/Summer of 2024.
Dara earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Information Science/Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh.