Balavignesh Thirumalainambi of NJII Named NJBIZ 2018 Forty Under 40 Winner

Written by: Deric Raymond
Published: Thursday, August 9, 2018

The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII), a New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Corporation, announced today that Balavignesh (Bala) Thirumalainambi, government affairs and finance director, was named a NJBIZ 2018 Forty Under 40 Winner. 

“I am honored and humbled to be recognized by NJBIZ for my work on behalf of NJII,” said Mr. Thirumalainambi. “As an alumni of NJIT, I am proud to represent the University and to have made a positive impact on our community. My work in developing a pipeline of public-sector funding that leads to advances in healthcare that saves lives is rewarding and I hope to continue this passion moving forward.”

Balavignesh Thirumalainambi poses in the Agile Strategy Lab inside of Central King Building

NJBIZ’s Forty Under 40 award recognizes up-and-coming stars of the New Jersey business community that have achieved professional excellence at a young age, representing the future of their industries and the state as a whole.

“It is safe to say that without Bala’s efforts, NJII’s Healthcare Delivery Systems iLab would not be operating, as he was an integral member of the team that wrote a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services grant that resulted in $50 million in funding to launch our 10,000 member provider network,” said Tomas Gregorio, senior executive director, NJII. “I was Bala’s professor at NJIT and even at his young age, I could see a drive and talent that set him apart from many of his peers. He is a respected leader at NJII and our entire organization is proud of all he has accomplished.”

Tomas Gregorio, senior executive director, NJII

Career highlights provided to NJBIZ included:

  • Bala leading a team of 50 specialists and consultants to develop an outreach program to educate providers on the need to adopt new Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology to improve patient health.  As a result of Bala efforts more than 8,000 physicians converted to EHRs and provider adoption in New Jersey rose from 15% to 80%.
  • Bala is responsible for safeguarding and expanding a yearly operating budget of more than $20 million and securing 80% of the Healthcare Delivery Systems ilab’s annual budget that is comprised of state and federal grants.
  • Bala’s grant writing efforts resulted in NJII receiving more than $80 million in public funding to make substantial improvements to health information technology infrastructure and practice transformation.

“It has been a personal pleasure to watch Bala grow from a student intern to a recognized national leader in the meaningful use of healthcare information technology,” said Donald Sebastian, NJII president & CEO. “Bala’s work in advancing population health has made a national impact and he is well deserving of this recognition by NJBIZ.”

Mr. Thirumalainambi is a graduate of NJIT and holds a MBA in Technology, and a MS in Engineering Management from that same University. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology from the Vellore Institute of Technology University in Vellore, Tamilnadu, India.