Lucy Kolessin is the senior director of administration for Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center. In her role, she oversees operations, human resources, finance, research compliance, and center staff. Kolessin received a degree in physical therapy from the Filaretova School at the Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria, and an MBA from Simmons University, Boston.
She began her career in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area in 2001 and went on to join Harvard Medical School in 2008 as a founding administrator of Harvard Catalyst, helping to build the foundation of the institution’s clinical and translational research enterprise. Since then, Kolessin has played a pivotal role in scaling the center’s administrative infrastructure to support increasingly complex research initiatives, such as the Football Players Health Study and SMART IRB. Drawing on her background in research management and finance, she has guided key inflection points in the organization’s growth, aligning operational strategy, compliance, and resource stewardship to enable scientific innovation.