Kolaleh Eskandanian PhD

In her role as VP and Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. Eskandanian oversees the Office of Innovation and Technology Commercialization, the Sheikh Zayed Institute’s operations, and plays a leadership role in the development of the Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus at Walter Reed (2020). She is Principal Investigator of the FDA-funded National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI), focused on accelerating the path to market for pediatric devices. Kolaleh works with a large network of small and large businesses, nonprofits and government agencies---addressing the unmet medical needs of children. Kolaleh’s expertise includes the full spectrum of product development activities, having held management positions at Accenture, a global management consulting firm, where she directed major product launches for clients. Dr. Eskandanian is also the co-PI on the FDA-funded Global Pediatric Clinical Trials Network grant and the CTSI-CN lead of the Orphan Product Accelerator.

Dr. Eskandanian’s own innovations are in the market space, used by millions. She is the lead inventor of the first-ever adverse event reporting system, initially deployed in a research academic environment. Prior to joining Children’s National, Dr. Eskandanian held positions with Intelsat, Accenture, and Georgetown University. Her background is in mechanical engineering with a PhD in operations science and an MBA from American University Kogod School of Business.