July 1, 2025

Sandhya Kortagere, PhD, will lead efforts to enhance research productivity, secure external funding, and support faculty development across basic, clinical, translational and population health sciences. She will also oversee the research infrastructure, including grants administration, compliance and research facilities, while promoting commercialization and technology transfer. Dr. Kortagere will connect the College of Medicine’s clinical expertise, world-class research, educational strengths, and extensive hospital and health system collaborations to foster innovation, support scientific discovery and enhance patient care.

Dr. Kortagere is a tenured professor of microbiology and immunology and an esteemed molecular and neuropharmacologist. She has been funded throughout her career with federal and non-federal funds exceeding $6 million and has published 80 papers in high-impact journals including Nature Communications, Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She is also a named inventor on 14 patents, many of which are awarded in multiple countries. Dr. Kortagere has served on several NIH study sections, gaining national and international recognition.

Dr. Kortagere has significant experience as an academic entrepreneur, and was a co-founder and chief scientific officer of PolyCore Therapeutics. She pioneered the development of the first known G-protein biased signaling agonist of the dopamine D3 receptors, a breakthrough with promising implications for treating motor and cognitive impairments in Parkinson’s disease. Her laboratory has also helped in the design and development of novel antimalarials that are currently being established for treating severe malaria.

Dr. Kortagere has trained several graduate and postdoctoral fellows in her laboratory and served on the thesis committees of more than two dozen graduate students. She was a co-director of four Biomedicine master’s programs and was an associate director of the Microbiology and Immunology graduate program.

Dr. Kortagere has served as a faculty senator for two terms and been a member of the Senate Committee on Scholarship, Research and Creativity. She has also been named a Provost Solutions Fellow, participating on the cell and gene therapy steering committee to help establish educational and training programs, build research and scholarship, and create experiential learning opportunities for Drexel students in the field. She co-chaired the Drexel University 2030 strategic plan group on research administration and served on the University Advisory Council for academic structure. Dr. Kortagere completed the prestigious Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program in 2024. Currently, she is co-leading the College of Medicine’s College Forward and Strategic Plan 2030 implementation planning group on research and innovation.

As we welcome Dr. Kortagere into this important role, we also extend our deepest gratitude to Kenny Simansky, PhD, for his decades of visionary leadership in the Office of Research. Dr. Simansky will be officially honored at an event on October 7 for his unwavering advocacy for interdisciplinary, cross-campus and extramural collaboration, including international initiatives; securing funding for state-of-the-art technology and facilities; and raising the profile of the College among peer institutions, federal and other grant-makers, and industry.