Our
Team

The I³ Leadership Team

Michael (Micky) Cohen-Wolkowiez, MD, PhD Executive Director Donna L. Parker, MPH Operations Director Brian Blackmon Project Management - Partner Innovations Christoph Hornik, MD, PhD Associate Director Neha Pagidipati, MD, MPH Associate Director Samantha Raines, MPH Project Management - Startup Innovations Aparna Swaminathan, MD, MHS Associate Director Willette Wilkins, MBA Strategy Director

Michael (Micky) Cohen-Wolkowiez, MD, PhD Executive Director

Micky is i-Cubed's first director. He is also the Kiser-Arena Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University and the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and is the Chief Medical Advisor for Lightship, a company providing clinical research services at sites, homes, remotely, and through mobile research units.

Micky has more than fifteen years of experience designing, planning, and conducting novel clinical trials in a variety of populations including healthy volunteers, children, adults, older adults, and pregnant women. Previously, he was a Scientific Advisor for the Office of Pediatric Therapeutics at the Food and Drug Administration, and has worked as a consultant for multiple pharmaceutical companies and startups.

Micky believes it is critically important to increase the representation of minority populations in clinical trials, and his work has made him aware of the many obstacles in the clinical research process that can be reduced or eliminated to benefit people everywhere.

He earned his medical degree at the Central University of Venezuela, completed his pediatric residency at Nickalus Children's Hospital, and a pediatric infectious disease fellowship at Duke University. He also has a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Micky loves to play tennis, read historical fiction novels, eat plantains, and visit art museums.

Email: michael.cohenwolkowiez@duke.edu

Donna L. Parker, MPH Operations Director

Donna works alongside the i-Cubed leadership team to design and implement the innovation center's structured approach for helping innovators transform their ideas from early concepts to market-ready strategies.

She has led clinical research operations teams at the University of North Carolina and Duke in a multitude of therapeutic areas. 

Donna particularly enjoys bringing teams together to form, storm, norm and perform work that makes a difference in the world.

She earned her master's degree in public health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

And although Donna works for Duke, she roots for the Tarheels. She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and dogs. She is an avid reader, gardener, hiker, and skier. 

Email: donna.l.parker@duke.edu

Brian Blackmon Project Management - Partner Innovations

Brian leads the Partner Innovations arm of i-Cubed, which provides consultation to organizations in the biopharma and health tech industries to accelerate new products and innovations into commercial markets.

Over the last 12 years, Brian has worked on many large-scale trials and projects on patient outcomes, payer evaluation, and pharmaceutical benefit management. He enjoys helping people solve problems and has extensive experience working with government agencies and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

He earned his master's degree in public policy at North Carolina State University.

Brian has two children who keep him busy and happy. He enjoys spending time outside with his family and friends.

Email: brian.blackmon@duke.edu

Christoph Hornik, MD, PhD Associate Director

In addition to his i-Cubed role, Christoph is the vice chair for research in the department of pediatrics at Duke, the director of DCRI's Pharmacometrics and Fit-for-Purpose research group, and a practicing pediatric cardiac intensivist. He also is a consultant to pharmaceutical companies and startups.

Christoph has led traditional multicenter randomized controlled trials, real-world-evidence generation, regulatory-compliant data analysis and reporting, prospective cohort studies and registries, and digital applications to support direct-to-participant studies.

Over the past ten years, Christoph has developed a passion for team-based clinical research innovation, transformative thinking, and making research more accessible to participants. By integrating clinical research into clinical care, Christoph believes we can improve evidence generation and achieve better health outcomes.

Christoph has a medical degree from the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany, and completed residency in pediatrics as well as subspecialty fellowships in pediatric cardiology and critical care medicine at Duke University. He obtained an MPH in biostatistics and a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Christoph was born and raised in Germany, and moved to the United States in 2005. He, his wife, and their two boys enjoy traveling and spending time together.

Email: christoph.hornik@duke.edu

Neha Pagidipati, MD, MPH Associate Director

In addition to her work for i-Cubed, Neha is the director of the Duke Cardiometabolic Prevention Program, which focuses on behavior change and risk factor management in patients at high risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. She also is Associate Program Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute Fellowship.

Neha's research focuses on clinical trials and evidence-based care of patients with high cardiovascular disease risk and lipid disorders, hypertension, diabetes, and/or obesity.

She sees a clear need for innovative research tools and methodologies to improve the way we engage, recruit, and retain diverse participant populations. Neha's goal for her work with i-Cubed is to help bring those tools to life.

Before joining Duke for a cardiology fellowship in 2013, Neha completed her undergraduate education at Harvard College and medical education at Harvard Medical School. She trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and earned a public health degree at Harvard School of Public Health.

Neha enjoys cooking for her family, reading, and watching baking shows. 

Email: neha.pagidipati@duke.edu

Samantha Raines, MPH Project Management - Startup Innovations

Sam leads the development and implementation of i-Cubed's varied initiatives and multi-stakeholder project teams, with a focus on ensuring that all i-Cubed projects and innovations are aligned with the organization's mission, vision, and goals.

Before joining i-Cubed, Sam held several clinical research program management roles at Duke University and in private industry clinical research organizations (CROs), spanning several therapeutic areas.

Sam's decision to be part of i-Cubed is rooted in a heartfelt belief in the transformative power of innovation.

Sam received a bachelor's degree in business administration from North Carolina State University and a master's in public health from Baylor University.

Outside of work, Sam is engrossed in the thrilling world of college basketball and relishes quality time with her family.

Email: samantha.raines@duke.edu

Aparna Swaminathan, MD, MHS Associate Director

Aparna is both a clinical researcher and practicing pulmonologist. Her clinical research experience includes evaluating high-dimensional -omics data, fit-for-purpose claims and electronic health data, multi-center prospective patient registries, and app-based direct-to-participant studies.

This work has energized Aparna's dedication to developing innovative approaches that can make clinical research more efficient and effective for all.

After completing her undergraduate education at Princeton University, Aparna earned her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and master's in Clinical Research degree at Duke University. She completed her internal medicine residency, chief residency, and pulmonary/critical care fellowship at Duke University before joining the faculty at Duke and the DCRI.

Aparna and her husband, an Air Force pilot, have two children, a girl and a boy. They love to be outdoors together playing sports and racing obstacle courses.

Email: aparna.swaminathan@duke.edu

Willette Wilkins, MBA Strategy Director

In addition to her role at i-Cubed, Willette is Head of Strategic Planning & Development and Corporate Communications at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. She has served in strategic business development for the DCRI for more than 16 years, helping to establish the DCRI's leadership position and supporting the growth of its clinical research portfolio.

Willette has more than 25 years of cross-functional pharmaceutical and business experience, including basic and clinical research, marketing, and finance. As a biochemist in the Protein Biochemistry Group at GlaxoSmithKline, she developed small molecules, proteins, and peptides in therapeutic areas such as oncology, antivirals, endocrine/metabolic disorders, and cardiology. As the Marketing Chair at PharmaResearch Corporation, she developed ongoing commercial evaluations for compounds, and created and managed innovative promotional programs for clinical trials. At Quintiles, Willette led the planning, budgeting, and financial evaluations of global clinical research projects.

Willette is passionate about helping to make innovation a priority for staff, faculty, and the entire Duke community - and about creating a collaborative environment that comes together to exchange ideas and transform how clinical research is done.

Willette holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry with a minor in business administration and an MBA from North Carolina Central University. She also has advanced graduate training toward a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Duke University.

Willette loves being with her husband and three teenage sons. She also is a health and wellness coach, trainer, and motivational speaker.

Email: willette.wilkins@duke.edu

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Team

Our
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The I³ Leadership Team

I³ Advisory Board

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I3 Acceleration Team

Our
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The I³ Leadership Team

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