HEAL Biomarker Program
Dr. Ram Arudchandran joined the Division of Translational Research, National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke in May 2021 and currently serving as the Program Director for the HEAL Biomarker program. Ram will be leading the HEAL Biomarker Program and will be responsible for the HEAL Biomarker Program grant portfolio. For the last two years Ram served as Program Officer in the Office of Translational Initiatives and Program Innovations (OTIPI) at NIDA, where he had a leading role in the new initiative, “Step Up for Substance Use Disorders (SUD): A Drug Target Initiative for Scientists Engaged in Fundamental Research”. Ram was also responsible for coordination, management, and evaluation of NIDA Small Business Innovation Research /Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Programs in the areas of Therapeutics Development & Biomarker Development and Validation. Prior to his tenure at NIDA, Ram served as Health science program manager at the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), DOD and led the efforts in the establishment of a biomarker working group led by the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial Consortium (PCCTC) to collaboratively work with industry, academia, NGOs and government agencies to bring recommendations for the utilization of biomarkers to enable the practice of precision medicine in the clinical management of prostate cancer. At CDMRP, Ram directed high impact portfolios of the Prostate cancer research programs involving cooperative agreements and grants for clinical trials & Biomarker Development Awards for developing prognostic markers, immunotherapeutics and vaccines. Ram also has experience in the technical development of biomarkers, stemming from 12 years of translational research experience at Wellstat Therapeutics Corporation where he coordinated interdisciplinary teams to advance translational research in identifying and developing therapies and biomarkers for metabolic and inflammatory diseases. Ram received his PhD at Bowling Green State University in Molecular Biology/ Microbiology. Ram conducted his post-doctoral training at NIAMS/NIH and served as Senior Staff fellow at NIAMS before joining Wellstat.