Director of Research Development at Duke university school of Nursing

Shila Nordone, PhD

Shila Nordone, PhD has served as Director of Research Development at Duke University School of Nursing since March 2023. In this role, she supports faculty in developing competitive research programs and advancing interdisciplinary collaborations. Prior to joining the School of Nursing, she spent five years in a similar role at the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment.

Dr. Nordone earned her MS in Nutritional Physiology from Iowa State University and her PhD in Immunology from North Carolina State University. She completed a T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the Duke University Human Vaccine Institute. She then spent nine years as a faculty member in the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she worked as an infectious disease immunologist. Her early career research focused on the mechanisms and consequences of molecular interactions between microbial pathogens and the innate immune system.

Since transitioning from laboratory research in 2012, Dr. Nordone has held several leadership roles spanning nonprofit, industry, and academic partnerships. She served as Chief Scientific Officer for a veterinary nonprofit organization and later as Director of Business Development for an industry consortium, where she managed interdisciplinary teams of scientists and cultivated strategic relationships with board members, corporations, foundations, and public institutions in support of organizational missions.

In addition to her role at Duke, Dr. Nordone currently serves as a consulting Entrepreneur-in-Residence for ArboAnalytics, an NCInnovation-funded startup out of Western Carolina University focused on improving vector-borne disease surveillance to help ensure North Carolinians can enjoy safer summers outdoors.