Seema Bajaj is a healthcare operations executive with nearly 20 years of experience leading clinical operations, financial management, and strategic planning for major medical institutions. She is passionate about optimizing healthcare systems to support clinicians and deliver excellent patient experiences. As Executive Director of the Seleni Institute, Seema oversees daily operations and drives the organization’s mission to become a premier global training center for maternal and reproductive mental health while improving the emotional wellbeing of women, caregivers, and families during the family-building years.

Seema brings a broad perspective shaped by experience across clinical research, academic medicine, and nonprofit leadership. She has built a reputation for navigating complex stakeholder environments, building consensus, and managing change to implement technical solutions, contingency planning, and operational improvements. Her career began in research administration at Columbia University, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Emory University, followed by a role as Director of Awards and Grants at the Research and Education Foundation of the American College of Rheumatology.

In 2010, Seema joined Stony Brook University’s Department of Pediatrics, where she managed operations for a department of 120 physicians, 200 staff, and 10 ambulatory sites. Her portfolio spanned human resources, strategic planning, grant administration, and mission-based programs for the Children’s Hospital. She strengthened the department’s financial health by overseeing a growing $50 million clinical budget, advanced practice productivity through high-level data analysis, and spearheaded physician recruitment and retention. She also led the implementation of telehealth and other technologies to improve patient access and efficiency, while ensuring quality outcomes, achieving payer incentives, and protecting work-life balance for staff during periods of rapid change—including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Seema holds a Master of Public Administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University.

Learn more about Seema in our Seleni Spotlight here and read our official press release here.