Karen Vargas is the Finance and Administrative Manager at LOSH. With over eight years of experience working in higher education, she provides integral financial support and guidance to the LOSH leadership team, principal investigators, stakeholders, and customers. She supervises the administrative team and manages federal, state, and private contracts and grants. In addition, she serves as the Western Region Universities Consortium (WRUC) fund manager for the NIH-NIEHS Worker Training Program. Her tasks include submission of grant proposals, postaward management, and policy compliance monitoring.

Karen values LOSH’s mission to promote health and safety in the workplace and the power of working as a team. She is proud to be part of UCLA’s diverse workforce. Outside the office, Karen enjoys traveling, learning about new cultures, cooking, and hiking.

Karen holds a bachelor’s degree in business economics and Spanish literature from UC Santa Barbara.