Sikara Consultancy partners with community hospitals, health systems, academic institutions, and innovators to build the research infrastructure, partnerships, and workforce that drive innovation and improve patient outcomes.
Sikara exists to elevate the research enterprise across health systems, clinics, and academic institutions — building world-class ecosystems that accelerate innovation, improve patient outcomes, and advance scientific discovery.
Our vision is rooted in strengthening the research infrastructure of organizations so they can operate with excellence, agility, and long-term sustainability — delivering highly specialized, actionable, and scalable solutions that traditionally only large institutions can afford.
From infrastructure development to workforce training, Sikara provides expert advisory services tailored to the scale and mission of your organization.
Sikara brings strategic advisory expertise to a diverse portfolio of clients — from healthcare technology companies and real-world evidence platforms to academic research programs — each at a different stage of growth and with a distinct research mission.
Highlander Health is a Dallas-based platform launched in 2024 that modernizes clinical research and patient care through learning labs, investment, and philanthropy — bringing together providers, regulators, academics, and life sciences partners to advance next-generation evidence generation. Pedestal Health, a portfolio company, delivers regulatory-grade real-world evidence for life sciences, with depth in hepatology, dermatology, and gastroenterology through its TARGET-DERM and related registries.
Brim Analytics is a Nashville-based healthcare technology company founded at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and backed by $3.9M in ARPA-H funding. Brim's AI-guided chart abstraction platform transforms unstructured clinical notes into structured, research-ready data — combining large language models with human-in-the-loop review to accelerate clinical research, registry management, and trial enrollment at academic medical centers and health systems nationwide.
The RESTORE program at San Diego State University is a community-based health research initiative focused on recovery, resilience, and health equity — bringing together academic researchers, community partners, and health systems to study and address the social and behavioral determinants of health in underserved populations. SDSU is an R1 research university and federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution with a deep commitment to community-engaged, translational health research.
Vani Nilakantan brings a rare combination of academic scientist, institutional executive, and cross-sector strategist. Beginning with a research faculty career at the Medical College of Wisconsin, she has led research programs at four major health systems — building programs, forging partnerships, and translating scientific ambition into operational excellence at scale. She is an ad-hoc reviewer for Kidney International, British Journal of Urology, PPAR Research, and Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine, with 29+ peer-reviewed publications and NIH- and AHA-funded research.
Sikara is built for long-term scale — starting with foundational engagements and growing into a nationally and internationally recognized research advisory practice.
Foundational services with known and local clients. Establish consulting frameworks, develop digital products (SOPs, templates, toolkits), and build an early portfolio of health system and academic institution engagements.
National expansion with a portfolio of health systems and academic institutions. Add retainer partnerships, grow the team, and establish Sikara as the go-to advisory for community hospital research programs and IIR strategy.
International scale through digital products, global partnerships, and virtual training programs. Position Sikara as a trusted global partner for research ecosystem development across health systems, academic institutions, and life sciences organizations.
Sikara serves a broad range of organizations across the research and health innovation ecosystem — from single-site clinics to large integrated health systems.
Whether you're launching a first research program or scaling an existing one, Sikara brings the expertise, strategy, and partnership to get you there.