Veronica Stroud

Veronica Stroud serves as a key procurement professional within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she manages strategic acquisitions to advance national biodefense readiness. Her role centers on securing medical countermeasures—including vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostic platforms—critical to responding to pandemics, bioterrorism, and emerging infectious threats. She oversees the full lifecycle of research and development contracts, ensuring timely delivery of innovative biomedical solutions through agile contracting mechanisms such as Other Transaction Authorities and basic ordering agreements. Her work directly supports ASPR’s mission to accelerate the development and deployment of life-saving countermeasures across the federal healthcare security infrastructure. Stroud maintains consistent procurement relationships with specialized biotechnology firms including Cidara Therapeutics, Aquestive Therapeutics, RAFA Laboratories, and Osivax, all of which possess advanced capabilities in antiviral drug development, novel delivery systems, and platform vaccine technologies. Her contracting patterns reflect a preference for high-technical-risk, high-reward partnerships with firms demonstrating proven expertise in preclinical and clinical-stage medical countermeasures. These relationships are characterized by long-term collaboration, technical alignment, and a focus on scalable manufacturing readiness. Stroud’s portfolio exhibits no set-aside preferences, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a mission-driven prioritization of technical capability and speed over socioeconomic categorizations, aligning with ASPR’s imperative to rapidly acquire proven countermeasures during public health emergencies. While small business participation is not formally incentivized in her contracting stream, vendors of all sizes are evaluated strictly on scientific merit, manufacturing capacity, and regulatory readiness. Her primary focus lies in NAICS 541714—Research and Development in Biotechnology—where she procures cutting-edge therapeutics, mRNA and viral vector platforms, antiviral formulations, and novel drug delivery systems. She specializes in acquisitions requiring deep domain expertise in immunology, virology, and GMP-compliant biomanufacturing, ensuring that contracted innovations meet stringent FDA and BARDA regulatory standards.