In honor of Technology Transfer Professionals Day on December 12th, we are highlighting Yogikala (Yogi) Prabhu, Ph.D. from the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office (TTIPO). Yogi currently serves as a Lead Technology Transfer and Patent Specialist at TTIPO and as the Chair of the NIH Technology Transfer Community Forum for 2025.

Yogi earned her B.S. in Microbiology and Biochemistry and her M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Mumbai, India. She then moved to Germany to pursue a Ph.D. in Natural Sciences at the University of Cologne, before relocating to the United States to conduct postdoctoral research at the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She continued her research career as a senior postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.

She was led to a career in technology transfer after exploring alternative science careers following her postdoctoral research. She conducted several informational interviews with technology transfer professionals at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the NIH National Cancer Institute, and the NIH Office of Technology Transfer. These conversations provided her with valuable insights that helped shape her career decisions. Yogi shares that the field of technology transfer “offers a unique blend of science, business, and law to translate scientific discoveries into real-world solutions.”

When giving advice to anyone searching for career options, she suggests: “Reflect on your interests and values (both professional and personal) to identify career paths that fit you. Reach out to professionals in your chosen fields for informational interviews to gain insights into their work, assess alignment with your interests, learn about skill sets needed, and expand your network – and remember that this process takes time.”

Yogi has been at NIH for over 16 years and appreciates the myriad opportunities to contribute to NIH’s mission, which aligns closely with her core values. She considers the most rewarding aspect of working here to be having the privilege of leading several impactful projects that have been instrumental in bringing FDA-approved therapies to market; recent examples include Leniolisib-PASLI/APDS and Pozelimab-CHAPLE disease. 

Yogi’s outstanding contributions to technology transfer at NIH have been recognized with numerous accolades, including four Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) National Awards, two FLC COVID-19 Distinction Awards, an NIH Office of the Director Honors Award, a NIAID Merit Award, and two congressional citations from Senator Van Hollen.

If you are interested in a career in tech transfer at NIH, keep an eye on our careers page.