Megan Columbus serves as Acting Director of the Division of Communications and Outreach for the NIH Office of Extramural Research, as well as the NIH Program Manager for Electronic Receipt of Grant Applications. As Communications Director, Megan is responsible for the OER website, the Grants Info helpline, communications updates and information campaigns to the community, as well as outreach efforts like these Regional Seminars. As Program Manager for Electronic Applications, she is responsible for ensuring that policy changes, technical development and business process changes move forward together to achieve NIH's goal of requiring electronic submission of grant applications through Grants.gov. Megan also works to coordinate the use of NIH systems and processes by other Federal agencies.

Megan has been involved in various activities during her tenure in the Office of Extramural Research, mostly focused on planning, evaluation, change management and outreach. Prior to joining OER, Ms. Columbus supported programs at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.