Aarati Singal - Contract Specialist, DRIVe

Aarati Singal serves as a Contract Specialist within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), where she plays a critical role in advancing the agency’s mission to secure and deploy medical countermeasures and biomedical infrastructure for national health emergencies. She manages the full lifecycle of complex procurement actions, primarily focused on research and development contracts for advanced diagnostics, therapeutic platforms, and high-throughput manufacturing technologies. Her work directly supports ASPR’s strategic goal of building a resilient biomedical industrial base capable of rapid scale-up during pandemics and biological threats, ensuring timely acquisition of mission-critical capabilities through compliant, risk-informed contracting practices. Singal collaborates with a diverse ecosystem of contractors, including academic research institutions, biotech innovators, and contract research organizations with expertise in life sciences R&D. She fosters partnerships with entities capable of delivering novel solutions under accelerated timelines, often navigating urgent acquisition authorities such as Other Transaction Authorities and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) pathways. Her approach emphasizes agility, technical rigor, and performance-based outcomes, aligning vendor capabilities with national preparedness priorities. Her procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for unrestricted competition, with 100% of her actions classified as “No Set-Aside.” This indicates a focus on technical merit and capability over socioeconomic classifications, prioritizing speed and scalability in response to emerging public health threats. While she does not routinely utilize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB set-asides, her contracting decisions remain fully compliant with federal acquisition regulations and emphasize mission-critical outcomes. Singal’s primary focus is on NAICS 541715—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—where she procures cutting-edge solutions in vaccine development, biosurveillance systems, diagnostic assay validation, and scalable biomanufacturing processes. Her technical expertise spans molecular biology, clinical trial support infrastructure, and regulatory-compliant production systems, positioning her at the intersection of science and federal procurement strategy.