Arunan Skandarajah
InvestorExecutive in Residence, Life Science Tools & Dx at GENERAL INCEPTION
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
About
Arunan Skandarajah is an independent technical and management consultant focused on medical product strategy, R&D, and commercialization. His background spans research at UC Berkeley, malaria elimination work at the Gates Foundation, corporate strategy at McKinsey, and roles at the FDA, and he has invested as an impact investor in areas including point-of-care ultrasound in Sub-Saharan Africa and automated diagnostics manufacturing. At ARPA-H, he joined as a Presidential Innovation Fellow supporting a White House biomedical initiative, contributed to building the agency as it grew to over 300 staff, and managed its SBIR program.
Experience
- Self-employedIndependent Technical and Management Consultantcurrent2026 — present
- Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)Small Business Program Manager2025 — 2026Washington, District of Columbia, United States
- Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)Translational R&D and Commercialization Lead2024 — 2025Washington DC-Baltimore Area
- Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)Presidential Innovation Fellow2021 — 2024Washington DC-Baltimore Area
- White House Presidential Innovation FellowsWhite House Presidential Innovation Fellow2020 — 2024Washington DC-Baltimore Area
- FDAPresidential Innovation Fellow | AI and Product2020 — 2022Washington DC-Baltimore Area
- Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationProgram Officer, Digital Health, Diagnostics, and Innovation2018 — 2020Washington DC
- Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationStrategy Officer for Malaria / McKinsey Fellow2017 — 2018Greater Seattle Area
- McKinsey & CompanyAssociate2015 — 2017San Francisco Bay Area
- UC BerkeleyPostdoctoral Researcher2015
- UC BerkeleyPhD Researcher in Bioengineering, Fletcher Lab2009 — 2014
- UC BerkeleyGraduate Student Instructor for Capstone Senior Design2013
- UC BerkeleyInstructor for Optics and Microscopy Lab Section2011
- LullyConsulting Engineer2015San Francisco Bay Area
- UCSFJoint Graduate Student2009 — 2014
- Vanderbilt UniversityStudent Biomedical Engineering Researcher and Instructor - SyBBURE2007 — 2009Greater Nashville Area, TN
- Eli Lilly & Co.Biology Intern2006Indianapolis, Indiana Area
Skills & more
Matlab17Labview2Science and Health PolicyResearch and Development (R&D)Strategic PartnershipsBiomedical Engineering20Microscopy21Microfluidics10Fluorescence Microscopy9Cell Culture8Image Processing6Medical Devices5
+12 more
FluorescenceImageJBioengineeringImage AnalysisMicrofabricationCellOpticsLaboratory3D PrintingRapid PrototypingSoft LithographyNanotechnologyFrom Arunan's professional profile.
Colleagues at GENERAL INCEPTION
Adam Weischhaus
Executives in Residence at GENERAL INCEPTION
Adam Wieschhaus
Investor at GENERAL INCEPTION
Alan Dance
Executives in Residence at GENERAL INCEPTION
Autumn Lee
Chief of Staff at GENERAL INCEPTION
Brad Crutchfield
Executives in Residence at GENERAL INCEPTION
Brad Nelson
Life Science Tools & Dx at GENERAL INCEPTION
Byron Hewett
Executives in Residence at GENERAL INCEPTION
Carol Tillis
Finance at GENERAL INCEPTION
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Arunan Skandarajah?
- Arunan Skandarajah is an independent technical and management consultant focused on medical product strategy, R&D, and commercialization. His background spans research at UC Berkeley, malaria elimination work at the Gates Foundation, corporate strategy at McKinsey, and roles at the FDA, and he has invested as an impact investor in areas including point-of-care ultrasound in Sub-Saharan Africa and automated diagnostics manufacturing. At ARPA-H, he joined as a Presidential Innovation Fellow supporting a White House biomedical initiative, contributed to building the agency as it grew to over 300 staff, and managed its SBIR program.
- Where does Arunan Skandarajah work?
- Arunan Skandarajah is Executive in Residence, Life Science Tools & Dx at GENERAL INCEPTION.
- Where did Arunan Skandarajah go to school?
- Arunan Skandarajah studied at University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D., Bioengineering); Vanderbilt University (M.S., Biomedical Engineering); Vanderbilt University (B.E. and Founder's Medalist, Biomedical Engineering).
Same school
Also attended University of California, Berkeley1,453
Byron DeeterPartner at Bessemer Venture PartnersSteve WozniakCo-founder of AppleTony XuCo-founder & CEO of DoorDashAravind SrinivasCo-founder & CEO of Perplexity AIAli GhodsiCo-founder & CEO of DatabricksRyan PetersenFounder & CEO of Flexport
+ 1,447 more
Also attended Vanderbilt University196
Jacob JofeInvestor at Index VenturesRoss Perot Jr.Chairman of The Perot Group at Perot JainDavid JohnsonManaging Director at Intel Capital, North AmericaTom DriscollPrincipal at Differential VenturesSabina SmithPrincipal at Scale Venture PartnersPayton DobbsOperating Partner at Hoxton Ventures
+ 190 more
Shared employers
Also worked at White House Presidential Innovation Fellows5
Also worked at McKinsey & Company1,549
Elad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalJim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer CapitalAnn Miura-KoCo-founding Partner at FloodgateJeremy LiewPartner at Lightspeed Venture PartnersMike SpeiserManaging Director at Sutter Hill VenturesJeremy LevinePartner at Bessemer Venture Partners
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Also worked at UC Berkeley310
Ali GhodsiCo-founder & CEO of DatabricksRaquel UrtasunFounder & CEO of WaabiPaul JennyBoard Chair at CincyTechAndrea van ElsasInvestor at Third Rock VenturesMichael PerezDeputy General Counsel at Mucker CapitalFreada Kapor KleinFounding Partner at Kapor Capital
+ 304 more
