Renee Leverty, BSN, MA, serves as Associate Director in Research Communications and Engagement, leads Partner Engagement, and oversees the DCRI Research Together™ program. By combining her unique experience as a patient advocate and nurse with 18 years of clinical trial project management experience at the DCRI, Leverty brings a deep understanding of the importance of creating systems and processes to support value-driven, patient-centered engagement models in clinical research.

Leverty has served as program manager for a Patient-Powered Research Network (PPRN) funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and has broad experience engaging diverse pediatric, adult, and aging populations, ranging from acutely to chronically ill, in clinical trial design and conduct. She has led numerous partner advisory groups for industry-sponsored trials and NIH-funded studies, as well as community co-design sessions for comparative effectiveness research. Leverty collaborates with sponsors and investigators to effectively integrate patient perspectives throughout the clinical trial and translational continuum, ensuring high-quality, efficient research.

Leverty received her BSN from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and her MA with a focus in medical ethics from Duke University.