Ed Monachino
Owner and Consultant
My Story
I’m a strategic science and technology leader with 25+ years of experience bridging innovation, research development, and commercialization across government, academia, industry, and nonprofit. My passion lies in translating complex scientific ideas into actionable, fundable, and impactful programs—particularly in health, life science and biomedical technology, defense, materials, energy, and environmental sectors.
With a deep background in federal funding acquisition, and multidisciplinary research development, I have successfully bridged the gap between cutting-edge science and real-world impact. I have led strategic growth and federal market development for multidisciplinary research programs, shaping funding roadmaps and streamlining processes for a multimillion dollar annual portfolios.
I work closely with senior leadership to reimagine organizational structures, improve communication pipelines, and foster a culture of innovation. I thrive at the intersection of science, business, and policy—supporting researchers, executives, and institutions in advancing innovative solutions from lab to market.
My career includes significant roles at national research institutions (NIH and DARPA), universities, industry, and nonprofits, with a focus on federal research funding, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation-driven program development.
Whether you’re a university research office, a nonprofit foundation, or a life sciences company, I provide flexible, strategic support to meet your goals. Let’s connect if you’re interested in collaborative R&D, federal funding strategy, commercialization, or building cross-sector partnerships.
Here are a few of my professional successes:
· Provided strategic planning and financial direction for 6 NIH/NCI Divisions with a total budget of $4.3B, across 4 DoD/DARPA offices with a total budget of $4.0B.
· Led ManTech business development, capture management, and contract management of HHS, DARPA, DTRA, ONR, DOE, and ARPA-E, and these 9 contracts and 34 Task Orders, had ~200 employees, subcontractors, consultants, and over $300M in ceiling.
· Built and led high-performing teams at RTI to secure and manage over $100M in competitive funding from federal agencies (NIH, FDA, CDC, NSF, DARPA, DOD, DOE, EPA) and industry partners.
· Transformed the university research enterprise for NC A&T State University, by building inter-university partnerships with Duke, UNC, NCSU, and WFU mentoring faculty across seven colleges, and personally led $100M in proposal submissions over three years.
· Led NIH/NCI translational programs that yielded 40 patents approved, 29 licenses awarded, 12 startups created, and 11 commercialized products.
Services
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Strategic Leadership & Research Development
Empowering Institutions to Advance Bold, Interdisciplinary Research
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Strategic planning for research development in alignment with institutional priorities
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Integration of proposal development, seed programs, and interdisciplinary initiatives
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Monitoring and responding to emerging research trends and funding landscapes
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Work with research leaders to develop competitive strategies for major federal, foundation, and industry funding initiatives
2
Research Advancement & Proposal Support
Driving High-Impact Research Through Competitive Funding Strategies
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Formation and support of interdisciplinary teams targeting major grants & contracts
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Full-service proposal development for individual grants as well as, large-scale, multi-disciplinary, multi-organization, and center grants
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Strategic partner engagement and broader impact design
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Program evaluation and post-award tracking
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Oversight of internal seed funding and matching grant competitions
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Outcomes analysis of funded projects
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Pre-Award Strategy & Grant Management
Building Effective, Scalable Funding Programs
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Application design aligned with organizational mission
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Strategic coordination with leadership, research offices, advisory committees, and PEER review teams
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Applicant support for policy, process, and scientific inquiries
Services
Our Services
4
Post-Award Oversight & Compliance
Ensuring Efficient, Transparent, and Impactful Awards Management
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Award document and contract preparation in collaboration with legal and research affairs
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Contract negotiation informed by research administration expertise
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Payment schedule development and communication
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Monitoring awardee progress through reports and investigator engagement
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Integration with outcome tracking and analytics
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Internal and external promotion of award outcomes and research messages
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Scientific Review Coordination
Ensuring Integrity and Quality in Peer Review Processes
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Recruitment and engagement of expert reviewers and advisory committees
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Organization and moderation of peer review panels and study sections
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Co-management of submission to scientific journals, including editorial and peer-review coordination
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Support for expert review of conferences, awards, and special initiatives
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Alignment of reviewer activities with programmatic goals and scientific rigor
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Translational Innovation & Commercialization
Bridging Scientific Discovery and Market Impact
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End-to-end business development for translational research and IP
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Partner identification, licensing, and startup team building
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Business development plans targeting investors and life sciences partners
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Negotiation and execution of strategic agreements
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Oversight of external consultants and cross-functional stakeholder coordination
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Process design to streamline innovation pipelines
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Commercialization strategy development
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Budget input and variance management for translational programs
Services
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Operational & Financial Leadership
Maximizing Research Investments Through Smart Operations
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Financial oversight for research development offices or initiatives
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Budget planning, financial management, and resource allocation
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Grant office operations management, performance tracking, and reporting
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Staff supervision, hiring, mentoring, and professional development
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Support for organizational compliance, reporting, and efficiency improvement
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Stakeholder Engagement & Institutional Partnerships
Building the Ecosystem Around Research Excellence
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Advisory board collaboration and strategic planning
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Engagement with industry/university leadership, faculty/staff, and external stakeholders
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Partnership development with federal agencies, private sector, and philanthropy
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Industry collaboration through corporate engagement offices and tech transfer
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Research visibility strategy development with communications teams
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General Scientific and Grant Support
Delivering High-Quality Scientific Content and Strategic Input
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Scientific writing and review for major grants and contracts
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Multi-project grant application development and project management
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Participation in strategic planning and internal advisory work
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Potential to serve in supervisory or mentoring roles
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Independently manage development of multi-project grant applications
Contact
Whether you need to launch a new funding initiative, develop a complex proposal, or translate innovation into impact—I'm here to help. Let's build a solution tailored to your goals.
