Rukmini Balu

Rukmini Balu serves as the Chief of Staff to Secretary Sangvai and brings strong experience in strategic leadership, health systems operations and community engagement. She most recently served as Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff in the Duke Office of Durham and Community Affairs, where she led strategic planning and supported initiatives that strengthened partnerships across the university and health system. 

Previously, she served as Chief of Staff to the Chancellor for Health Affairs and President/CEO of the Duke University Health System, working closely with executive leadership to advance strategic priorities and support high-performing teams. She also helped establish Duke Medicine Global, leading strategy and partnership development for global health initiatives. 

Rukmini holds a PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Rukmini’s experience in strategy, health care leadership, and cross-sector collaboration will be a tremendous asset to our department. As Chief of Staff, she will work closely with senior leadership and teams across the department to support execution of our priorities and strengthen alignment across our work.