Team

Joined DataCite: January 2021
Based in: Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Mike supports application development across DataCite services and infrastructure. He is a self-taught developer with an interest in building open tools and making things accessible. Prior to joining DataCite, he was the technical lead on the Bodleian Library’s Broadside Ballads Online project and a developer with the University of Edinburgh Digital Library.

Joined DataCite: October 2019
Based in: Amsterdam, Netherlands

As Executive Director, Matt leads the DataCite organization and a global team advancing open PID metadata to support research infrastructure. With over 15 years of senior leadership experience in technically oriented global organizations and initiatives, Matt is committed to building sustainable, community-driven solutions that enable the creation, discovery, and connection of research outputs worldwide.

Favorite DataCite thing: “DataCite’s community connections and our shared commitment to open infrastructure.”

Joined DataCite: January 2021
Based in: Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Xiaoli leads the Implementing FAIR Workflows project, working on building exemplar FAIR practices throughout the research lifecycle with the project team and partners. She also co-chairs the DataCite APAC Expert Group and oversees the Registered Service Provider program. Before joining DataCite, Xiaoli worked at CERN in parallel with her Ph.D. research on Open Science research practices among high-energy physicists.

Favorite DataCite DOI: “The project DOI of the Implementing FAIR Workflows Project: https://doi.org/10.60581/zaev-6p15”

Joined DataCite: September 2023
Based in: Johannesburg, South Africa

Wendel supports application development on DataCite Event Data and other infrastructure projects. His role at DataCite places him at the intersection of cutting-edge software development and the open science movement, contributing significantly to the organization’s mission of facilitating accessible and reusable scientific data.

Favorite DataCite thing: “Working on scalability because the impact is far-reaching, allowing DataCite to grow and better serve the community.”

Joined DataCite: January 2015
Based in: Hannover, Germany

Britta manages the day-to-day operations of the DataCite business office and is responsible for budget and fiscal functions as well as policies and procedures. She holds a BSM from Pepperdine University and an MBA in Entrepreneurship. She is passionate about creating robust financial strategies that ensure the long-term sustainability of open research infrastructure.

Favorite DataCite thing: “DataCite’s open science mission and its essential role in addressing global challenges – from climate change to public health – by promoting transparency, equity, and cross-border collaboration.”

Joined DataCite: November 2023
Based in: Lerum, Sweden

Focusing on metadata quality, harmonization, and interoperability, Sara conducts quantitative and qualitative analyses to inform metadata strategies. She develops automated tools and dashboards to monitor and improve metadata usage, accessibility, and overall quality. Sara has a background in research data management, metadata curation, and semantic technologies.

Favorite DataCite feature: “Definitely DataCite Profiles. You can grant DataCite persistent permissions via the ORCID Search & Link wizard or directly through DataCite. This lets DataCite automatically update your ORCID record whenever your ORCID iD is included in metadata for a newly registered DOI.”

Joined DataCite: January 2024
Based in: Portland, Oregon, USA

Maria leads DataCite’s Global Community and Services team, where she is responsible for the organization’s product vision and community strategy and coordinates strategic initiatives across the organization and with external partners. As part of her role, she also directs the Research Organization Registry (ROR). Prior to joining DataCite, Maria worked on research infrastructure and scholarly communications at the California Digital Library, the University of California, Berkeley Library, and PLOS.

Favorite DataCite thing: “The ways in which our services, infrastructure, and community activities bring both knowledge and people together.”

Joined DataCite: January 2017
Based in: Barcelona, Spain

Richard leads engineering efforts focused on supporting and scaling DataCite’s infrastructure. He has over 20 years of experience developing software solutions for a variety of products and services, both as an individual contributor and as a technical lead.

Favorite DataCite thing: “Our efforts in delivering open-source and open infrastructure.”

Joined DataCite: October 2018
Based in: London, United Kingdom

Mary is responsible for ensuring that DataCite provides exceptional support to its members and community. She has a background in customer support, communications, and knowledge management, having worked for a global information company, smaller research organizations, and NGOs.

Favorite DataCite metadata property: “The ‘Rights’ property, because license information assists open research.”

Joined DataCite: January 2022
Based in: New Braunfels, Texas, USA

Bryceson supports front-end development work on DataCite Commons and other services. Prior to joining DataCite, he worked as a software development engineer at Cambia Health Solutions, where he helped develop a large-scale care gap management engine that helps healthcare professionals identify gaps in member care. Previously, he was involved in undergraduate research at Texas A&M University, where he earned a degree in computer engineering.

Favorite DataCite thing: “Engaging with the DataCite community at conferences like Open Repositories.”

Joined DataCite: October 2025
Based in: Haverhill, United Kingdom

Maria acts as a key liaison between DataCite and its community members, ensuring their needs are understood, addressed, and reflected in the organization’s services and strategic priorities. She is passionate about open science and open scholarly infrastructure. Prior to joining DataCite, Maria worked at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), leading an outreach team for Europe PMC database.

Favorite DataCite DOI: “Kembang Goyang Dance Motion Capture Data – an incredible example of preserving and sharing traditional dance forms through the use of PIDs: https://doi.org/10.71511/7r78-e647”

Joined DataCite: April 2025
Based in: Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

Dione is responsible for project coordination on DataCite’s metadata enrichment activities and collaborations, including COMET. Prior to DataCite, Dione served as COO and Senior Architect at the Coko Foundation, where she led large-scale, open-source development projects for NCBI (NIH) and BioInteractive (HHMI), as well as Coko community publishing platforms. Her background includes extensive experience in the publishing sector both globally and locally in South Africa.

Favorite DataCite thing: “Building solutions to serve community needs, and applying expertise at DataCite to connect research and advance knowledge.”

Joined DataCite: June 2023
Based in: Dubai, UAE

Mohamad supports institutions and communities around the world in adopting open research practices and values through DataCite membership, services, and activities. He is also a member of the UNESCO Working Group on Open Science Infrastructures. Prior to joining DataCite, Mohamad worked for over 12 years in scholarly publishing, focusing on Open Access for journals and books.

Favorite DataCite thing: “DataCite’s efforts in building an equitable and inclusive research infrastructure.”

Joined DataCite: January 2023
Based in: Cambridge, United Kingdom

Iratxe directs the Make Data Count initiative, which promotes the development of open data metrics to enable evaluation of data usage. Prior to this role, Iratxe worked at ASAPbio, where she led initiatives to promote the use of preprints and transparency in peer review. She also held editorial roles at different open-access journals and served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief at the journal PLOS ONE.

Favorite DataCite metadata property: “The RelatedIdentifier field in the metadata schema, I just love connections!”

Joined DataCite: April 2021
Based in: Valencia, Spain

Joseph leads the technical development of ROR, along with other key DataCite services. He previously led the repository team at Brown University Library and holds degrees in computational and biomedical mathematics.

Favorite DataCite thing: “The ability to take cross-cuts based on different metadata fields to group works/dois in interesting ways and see what patterns I can see.”

Joined DataCite: January 2022
Based in: Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Cody originally joined DataCite as an application support engineer and became a product manager in July 2024. He is responsible for supporting development work across DataCite services. Prior to joining DataCite, Cody worked at Brown University Library, where his primary responsibilities included supporting the university’s digital repository services and advancing the library’s digital preservation program. Cody’s professional background also includes software development, archives and special collections, library IT services, and library technical services.

Favorite DataCite feature: “The annual data file is both a functional tool and a celebratory snapshot of our community’s metadata efforts throughout the year.”

Joined DataCite: September 2023
Based in: Münster, Germany

Kudakwashe supports application development on various DataCite services, including the Data Citation Corpus. Kudakwashe has worked with various technologies for a number of companies in the consulting, fintech, e-commerce and edutech industries. Most recently, he worked as a software engineer for a software consulting company, where he was responsible for Ruby on Rails upgrades and performance optimization.

Favorite DataCite feature: “The Data Citation Corpus!”

Joined DataCite: April 2022
Based in: Vancouver, Canada

Kelly is responsible for the development and adoption of the DataCite Metadata Schema and works closely with the DataCite community on technical implementations. Prior to joining DataCite, Kelly worked at the Portage Network of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, where they contributed to national data discovery initiatives and supported the DataCite Canada Consortium. Kelly holds an MLIS from the University of British Columbia, a BS in Computer Science, and a BMus in Music Composition.

Favorite DataCite thing: “Supporting our community members with building REST API queries to make use of DataCite metadata.”

Joined DataCite: September 2023
Based in: Pune, India

Ashwini develops APIs and backend services that support DOI registration and management. Ashwini joined DataCite with more than a decade of experience in building scalable, user-centric web applications.

Favorite DataCite thing: “Collaborating remotely in an international team, and ensuring high performance, security, and reliability across mission-driven systems.”

Joined DataCite: February 2020
Based in: Treuenbrietzen, Germany

Paul is responsible for DataCite’s communications and design, overseeing the website, blog, and newsletter. He is passionate about working with a global team and community members toward a common goal of open research. Before joining DataCite, he worked at the Helmholtz Open Science Office and at several universities, where he supported the development of publication and data repositories.

Favorite DataCite DOI: “A dataset on German vacation habits from the early 1960s: https://doi.org/10.4232/1.0097”

Joined DataCite: February 2020
Based in: Rye, New Hampshire, USA

Suzanne is an application developer who supports DataCite Fabrica and related services. Educated as a software engineer at Boston University, her background in software development includes operating systems, compilers, networking, and web applications. Prior to DataCite, Suzanne worked at the University of New Hampshire library modernizing their repository software.

Favorite DataCite thing: “The mission – providing the tools to connect research and advance knowledge.”

Joined DataCite: September 2019
Based in: Belmont, Massachusetts, USA

Sarala directs the DataCite engineering team. Prior to joining DataCite, she spent ten years at EMBL-EBI in Cambridge, UK, where she led several data integration projects, including the Identifiers.org resource. She holds a PhD in Bioengineering and a BE in Software Engineering from the University of Auckland.

Favorite DataCite thing: “Building innovative, scalable, and reliable services that support research discovery and reuse.”