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Director of External Partnerships

Sharlini Sankaran, Ph.D.

Sharlini Sankaran, Ph.D., is Director of External Partnerships at the Duke Office for External Partnerships (OEP). She facilitates and establishes external partnerships between Duke researchers and public and private sector organizations in order to accelerate translation and adoption of research to positively impact society. Sankaran has over 15 years of leadership experience at the intersection of academic-government-industry partnerships, technology-based innovation, and economic development.

Sankaran’s experience at Duke spans both the University and Medical School, having held leadership positions at the Duke Regeneration Center and the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative. She has developed and taught experiential courses for graduate and professional students including New Ventures Clinic: Healthcare and Research Translation and Commercialization.

Prior to joining Duke, Sankaran was at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill as Executive Director of REACH NC, a statewide portal connecting research, industry, and nonprofit to increase multi-institutional partnerships and encourage economic development. REACH NC was the largest portal of its kind and was recognized as exemplary by several organizations including the University Economic Development Association.

Sankaran’s experience in fostering innovation and partnerships stems from her time as Assistant Director of the North Carolina Office of Science, Technology, and Innovation, housed within the state’s Department of Commerce. In that role, she managed the NC Green Business Fund, supported efforts to establish the North Carolina nanotechnology community, advised on economic development and policy issues, and helped administer and track impacts of programs and grants for commercialization of technology-based innovations. She is co-author of the 2009 report: Advancing Innovation in North Carolina.

Sankaran has served as a visiting data scientist at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and has held positions at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Honor Society. Dr. Sankaran holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from UNC-Chapel Hill, where her research focused on using functional MRI to image human somatosensory cortical responses to painful and non-painful touch. She also holds Masters and Bachelors of Science Degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.