Jenica Patterson, PhD

Senior Director, Women’s Health Network, Milken Institute Health

Jenica Patterson, PhD, is the senior director of the Women’s Health Network within the Health pillar at the Milken Institute, where she leads a global initiative to accelerate innovation, investment, and cross-sector collaboration in women’s health. In this role, Patterson brings together leaders across science, industry, philanthropy, and finance to advance emerging solutions and strengthen the ecosystem needed to bring women’s health innovations to market and scale.

Before joining the Milken Institute, Patterson served as a portfolio lead at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) within the Office of Commercialization. She led the first-ever Sprint for Women’s Health, a landmark $113 million program designed to catalyze women’s health innovation and accelerate the commercialization of bold, early-stage technologies. She also directed the Small Business Program Launchpad Accelerator and oversaw ARPA-H’s commercialization capabilities, which supported transition pathways and product readiness for teams across the agency.

Her earlier roles include serving as a science and technical advisor at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the Biological Technologies Office and Information Innovation Office, and as a program director at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she advanced translational therapeutic and diagnostic programs, including contributions to the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative.

Patterson earned her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship within the NIH Intramural Research Program. She works at the Milken Institute’s Washington, DC, office.