Wendy Sanhai Directory Page

Dr. Wendy R. Sanhai, PhD, MBA ’09, is a recognized leader in the healthcare and global health fields who served in senior positions across academia, federal agencies, industry, and nonprofit organizations. In addition to serving as a faculty member in the department of Management and Organization, Sanhai will lead strategic initiatives with private industry, Federal and State agencies and other external stakeholders, working closely with multidisciplinary faculty within the Smith School and across other schools at UMD to foster research and consulting engagements, experiential learning and career opportunities for our students, and Executive Education programs, especially in the area of life sciences where Wendy is a leading authority.

Sanhai served in senior positions in academia, the Department of Health and Human Services and in private industry. As the former Senior Scientific Advisor, Office of the Commissioner, FDA, Sanhai created, implemented and oversaw strategic programs to advance science and bridge gaps in public health and patient care. At NIH, she served as a Technology Licensing Specialist and Patent Advisor, conducting a full range of activities associated with business development, facilitating intramural and extramural NIH research, securing intellectual property protection, and negotiating the transfer of those patent rights to the private sector to promote the research, development, and commercialization of medical products. As the former Director, Public Private Partnerships at the Foundation for NIH, Sanhai led the development and oversight of strategic partnerships with industry and external partners, all dedicated to the mission of NIH. In her role as Senior Director at GSK, Sanhai worked across multiple therapeutic areas and international, cross-functional business units to achieve drug development and organizational goals.

In her most recent role with Deloitte Consulting LLC., Sanhai served as a trusted advisor to senior leaders across NIH, FDA, DoD, VHA and Fortune 500 companies in Life Sciences and Healthcare. In this role, she leveraged her 25+ years of experience to train and lead multidisciplinary teams focused on developing innovative solutions and operational efficiencies to meet clients’ needs. Sanhai led the development of best practices and strategies to support public /global health, medical product development and regulatory submissions.

Wendy serves as a Board member on several organizations, including the Medicines for Malaria Ventures (MMV), University of Maryland Board of Trustees and the Robert H. Smith Business School Board of Advisors.

Wendy has a PhD in clinical biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo, an MBA from the University of Maryland and a BS from the University of Florida.