Dr. Balakrishnan serves as Technology Transfer Manager at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). NCATS is committed to pushing the frontiers of drug discovery and development, and explore novel ways to incorporate the findings of the human genome into chemical starting points for disease intervention. At NCATS, a vast majority of the scientific projects are collaborative in nature, and Balki is engaged in all aspects of partnership development, and technology transfer. Just prior to joining NCATS, Balki served as Executive Director at the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, a non-profit organization affiliated with the NIH. Balki’s earlier positions at NIH include: (i) Marketing Group Leader at the NIH Office of Technology Transfer office, and (ii) Senior Technology Development Manager at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

At the NIH Office of Technology Transfer, Balki had oversight of all marketing activities, identifying and initiating relationships with collaboration partners and vendors. During his tenure, he promoted and widely expanded NIH’s institutional brand, sharply increasing the number of licenses issued and total licensing revenues. He was responsible for initiating market research studies, program evaluations and publicizing and marketing the NIH brand widely. He was directly involved in planning and executing direct mail programs, trade show marketing, industry outreach programs and creating fresh marketing materials and branding elements. For his commitment and contributions towards training post-docs for alternate careers in science, Balki was awarded the prestigious NIH Director’s Mentoring Award. Balki has published and presented, globally, on various Technology Transfer aspects and topics. He also sits on various professional boards, panels and advisory committees.

Prior to NIH, Balki was Vice President of Technology and Business Development, and VP of Research and Development at a division of Covance, formerly Berkeley Antibody Company. At Covance, he led at different times, the company’s new product development, technology licensing, manufacturing and R&D activities. This deep industry experience in all aspects of biological product development, and the wide perspectives gained by working in both for-profit and non-profit organizations, has provided Balki with the flexibility and creativity needed to negotiate complex agreements.

Dr. Balakrishnan currently is an Executive Board Member of the Global Alliance of Indian Biomedical Professionals, and a mentor to the Bethesda Chapter of American Women in the Sciences. He was a Special Expert on Communications, Scientific Management and Intellectual Property for the Department of Defense. In 2005, he obtained NIH Evaluation Funding, which enabled him to examine in depth the “Role of NIH Inventors in Technology Transfer”.

Balki earned a Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from Stanford University, and an MBA from UC Berkeley. He completed the Management Cadre leadership development program at NIH, and has won a number of performance awards. He is the co-inventor on two US patents, and has extensively published his original work in various fields.