The South Carolina Research Authority announced that Sohail Malik was recently named Director of SC Academic Innovations.

Malik will be responsible for leading the strategic direction of the SC Academic Innovations program that works with academic institutions and their affiliated startups to help advance research capabilities and commercialize technologies. The program accomplishes this by identifying market trends and validating the commercial relevance of the research and development it funds.

“Sohail brings a wealth of experience to a position that requires expertise in industry, academia, and entrepreneurship. His extensive background includes leadership in industry startups, global corporations, and at the university level where he was an assistant professor in addition to leading business development and technology transfer offices domestically and internationally,” said Executive Director, Bob Quinn. “We are very excited to have him join our team.” 

Prior to joining SCRA, Malik was CEO of an epigenetics company in Seattle, WA, which is focused on neurocognitive disorders, particularly Alzheimer’s Disease. Previously, he served as the director and chief licensing officer at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. Malik was also the director and chief licensing officer at the University of Georgia where he headed one of the most successful technology transfer and licensing programs in the nation. Malik served the Kimberly-Clark Corporation as technical leader in their corporate new business and technology department. He also co-founded a biotech company, BioFrontiers Inc., in Redmond, WA and served as the president and director of research and development. He served on the editorial boards of the Current Medicinal Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry journals. 

Malik’s extensive career also includes serving as an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He was a postdoctoral research associate at Stanford University, and worked with world-renowned scientist, Professor Carl Djerassi, whose research led to the discovery of first oral contraceptive. Malik holds a doctoral degree in medicinal chemistry from University of Karachi. He has published 35 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and holds 21 issued patents. He will be based in SCRA’s Charleston Innovation Center.