Summary
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
Mallika Das
Open To Work

Mallika Das

Toronto,ON

Summary

Mobilizing knowledge into institutional impact at scale.

Executive strategy leader with a track record of driving institutional growth, securing multimillion-dollar funding, and building cross-sector partnerships across academia, industry, and government.

Known for architecting funding pathways, translating research into scalable initiatives, and aligning stakeholders to deliver measurable impact. Combines deep scientific background with executive-level strategy, governance, and commercialization experience.

Work History

Head of Strategy

The Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences
Toronto, ON
2019 - 2026

Promoted twice: Research Grants Manager (2019)→ Senior Strategy Officer(2020) → Head of Strategy(2021)

  • Owned institutional strategy and development, delivering 50% operating budget growth (2020–2024)
  • Architected the MCURES provincial renewal strategy, advancing a 62.5% funding increase for 2026–2030
  • Built and scaled partnership and revenue pipelines, converting dormant relationships and new opportunities into active capital channels within months
  • Led capital strategy, securing $19.4M+ funding (~57% success rate) across core and strategic initiatives, including the $3M NSERC-funded Mathematics for Public Health network, and Economic Modelling Roundtables convening interdisciplinary leaders across academia and industry
  • Advised senior leadership and Board on strategy, institutional narrative and positioning, shaping government engagement and cross-sector expansion priorities, along with governance, organizational design, and change management

Manager, Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterial

University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
2017 - 2019
  • Managed $22M+ multi-stakeholder research portfolio (e.g., ORF-RE, APC, NSERC-CRD), bridging industry–academia collaborations
  • Managed end-to-end Centre operations during Director’s 18-month leave, overseeing labs, projects, budgets, reporting, events, and outreach, to maintain seamless operational continuity; supporting a core team of 35+ researchers and a broader network of 60+ partners.
  • Held financial signing authority; led forecasting, audits, and all technical and financial reporting in coordination with university administration

Manager, Business Development and Industry Liaison

George Brown College
Toronto, ON
2014 - 2015
  • Led growth and repositioning of government-funded innovation centre, securing $14M+ expansion funding (FedDev, institutional, industry, NSERC)
  • Transformed financial model, increasing cost recovery from 30% to 100% through pricing redesign, service restructuring, and revenue diversification
  • Advised Board on market positioning and growth strategy, aligning services with industry demand and unlocking new revenue streams
  • Built and executed commercial pipeline, closing 30+ industry and fee-for-service projects and rebuilding pipeline (18 qualified leads within 2 months)
  • Improved operational performance, reducing onboarding time (8 → 3 weeks) and increasing conversion (17% → 48%) through process redesign and performance tracking

SELECTED LEADERSHIP & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Self
Toronto, ON

Innovation Fellow | Founder (Incubated Venture)

University of Toronto Impact Centre

  • Founded and commercialized a clean technology venture in wood treatment and agro-biotech
  • Awarded OCE New Entrepreneur funding (top startup, Techno 2010 cohort)
  • Led international partnerships (India delegation), resulting in funded collaborations and institutional MoU (UofT–IISc)

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Co-Founder |Multimedia Education Venture

  • Launched sustainability-focused education platform; secured partnerships with 16 TDSB schools
  • Led product, strategy, and early-stage operations

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Board Executive|NetIP Toronto

  • Led programming and partnerships to strengthen professional and community engagement across the GTA

EARLY CAREER EXPERIENCE

MaRS Discovery District
Toronto, ON

Research Analyst/Consultant

  • Delivered analysis of Canada’s nanotechnology landscape vs. global benchmarks
  • Supported development of advanced nanomaterials strategy in health and cleantech sectors

RESEARCH & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
  • Conducted research in nanomedicine and translational biomedical engineering
  • Co-authored Commercializing Nanotechnology for Medicine (Elsevier, 2016), bridging research and commercialization
  • Developed operational frameworks and supported lab management and interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

Ph.D. - Nanomaterials & Biomedical Engineering

University of Toronto, Toronto
  • Published 7 first author papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals

Skills

  • Growth & Capital Strategy
  • Funding Architecture
  • Government Relations
  • Partnerships & Expansion
  • Institutional Transformation
  • Board Advisory
  • Research Commercialization
  • Innovation Management
  • Problem Solving
  • Influential & Ethical leadership

Timeline

Head of Strategy - The Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences
2019 - 2026
Manager, Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterial - University of Toronto
2017 - 2019
Manager, Business Development and Industry Liaison - George Brown College
2014 - 2015
SELECTED LEADERSHIP & ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Self
EARLY CAREER EXPERIENCE - MaRS Discovery District
RESEARCH & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
University of Toronto - Ph.D., Nanomaterials & Biomedical Engineering
Mallika Das