As a Program Director in the Office of Global Health and Health Disparities, Dr. Sankar has a diverse research portfolio covering topics related to advancing health equity in pain management and health disparities in neurological disorders and stroke. Prior to her current role, Dr. Sankar served as a senior science policy analyst in the NINDS Office of Pain Policy and Planning where she organized the annual NIH Pain Consortium Symposium, served as a program officer on the Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures Common Fund Program, initiated and co-led a Disparities and Diversity in pain research workgroup and ongoing efforts related to health equity in pain management through the NIH HEAL Initiative.  Dr. Sankar was an AAAS Science & Technology Policy fellow in 2011-2012 at the National Cancer Institute in the Division of Cancer Control & Population Science’s Behavioral Research Program. She first joined NIH as a NINDS IRTA (intramural research training associate) then received a PRAT (Pharmacology Research Associate) fellowship in the NINDS Molecular Pharmacology Section where she published work on functional properties of the D3 dopamine receptor antagonists. Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Sankar received her bachelors’ degrees in Chemistry and Biology from UC Irvine and her PhD in Pharmacology at the University of Michigan where she focused on mechanisms of the dopamine reward pathway.