Malinda Dehner

Malinda Dehner serves as a key procurement professional within the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center, supporting the acquisition of mission-critical biomedical and laboratory resources essential to advancing clinical research and public health innovation. She manages a diverse portfolio of contracts for high-precision scientific instruments, in-vitro diagnostic substances, surgical tools, and bioanalytical software, ensuring that NIH researchers have access to cutting-edge technologies for disease prevention, diagnostics, and therapeutic development. Her work directly enables the agency’s strategic goal of accelerating translational research through reliable, compliant, and technically sound procurement practices. Dehner maintains collaborative relationships with a broad spectrum of vendors, including manufacturers of analytical laboratory equipment, medical device suppliers, and specialized wholesale distributors of laboratory-grade reagents and consumables. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, she consistently engages with firms possessing deep domain expertise in life sciences instrumentation and regulatory-compliant supply chains, fostering partnerships that prioritize technical validation, traceability, and compliance with FDA and CLIA standards. Her procurement approach reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 96.7% of awards issued under non-set-aside conditions. Small business participation remains modest but intentional, with approximately 3% of contracts reserved for total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5 and a minimal but consistent allocation to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, demonstrating a measured commitment to socioeconomic goals without compromising technical rigor. Dehner’s primary procurement focus centers on NAICS 325413 (in-vitro diagnostic substances), 334516 (analytical laboratory instrument manufacturing), and 339112 (surgical and medical instrument manufacturing), reflecting her expertise in procuring complex, regulated biomedical technologies. She routinely acquires precision instruments such as mass spectrometers, flow cytometers, and automated diagnostic platforms, as well as sterile surgical kits and specialized bioanalytical software, ensuring alignment with NIH’s evolving research infrastructure needs.