Krishna "Balki" Balakrishnan, Ph.D., MBA

Marketing Manager
OD/OIR/OTT
(W) 301-496-7056 Ext. 251
Email: balki@nih.gov

I joined NIH in 1999, and initially served the Technology Transfer office at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), before joining NIH's main Office of Technology Transfer in January 2001.

My current responsibilities include the oversight of our office's marketing activities and the identification of potential industry partners who can commercialize NIH inventions. As the Marketing Group Leader, I am also responsible for staff recruitment, training and supervision. We use comprehensive marketing measures such as general publicity, industry outreach and trade show advertisements to create awareness and NIH name recognition. Specific steps including market analysis, direct mail, telemarketing and technology briefs are then taken to identify potential commercial partners.

While at NHLBI, I served the Institute's technology transfer needs, and chaired their Technology Evaluation and Advisory Committee. My areas of responsibilities included the negotiation of material transfer and collaborative agreements, and the marketing of Institute inventions to potential industry partners. I continue to serve on the NHLBI Animal Care and Use Committee, a responsibility I undertook when I joined the Institute.

Prior to joining NIH, I worked in a number of biopharmaceutical firms in the areas of R&D, manufacturing, marketing and business development. After completing my Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from Stanford University, I joined DNAX, a division of the pharmaceutical company Schering Plough, where I carried out research work on biosensors and cell surface immunology.

I continued my scientific work in the bio-pharmaceutical industry with BAbCO (now part of Covance). While at BAbCO I established and ran three laboratories: tissue culture, biochemistry and mouse antibody production. After a number of years in research and new product development, I moved into manufacturing, marketing and business development. At BAbCO, I also established an active new product licensing program, and became very interested in the area of technology transfer. My MBA education from the University of California at Berkeley, where I specialized in marketing and business strategy, drew me further towards business analysis, licensing and planning. Just prior to joining NIH, I completed consulting assignments with Clontech, Molecular Probes and Sepragen on projects that included market analysis, technology evaluation, new product launch planning, FDA application and license negotiations.

While I was excited to come to work for NIH from private industry, I was also somewhat skeptical about joining a Government Agency. However, the level of innovation, entrepreneurism and upbeat optimism that I have found here has been very reassuring. The level of dedication shown by NIH employees has also touched me deeply. I welcome the opportunity to be part of the 2001-2002 Management Cadre Program and look forward to serving NIH to the best of my abilities and potential.