Sunanda K. Holmes, JD, LLM, MBA
Dr. Sunanda Holmes is currently an Assistant Professor of Healthcare Policy and Research and the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer and Associate University Counsel for Cornell University’s Qatar campus. In this joint role as an administrator and legal advisor, Dr. Holmes is involved in all aspects of operations, finance, legal and regulatory compliance (under USA and Qatari laws) on the Qatar campus. She also prepares, negotiates and manages the annual budget for the college. Dr. Holmes advises senior leadership on legal and regulatory matters related to education and biomedical research in Qatar. In addition to her administrative and legal duties, she works with other national stakeholders in organizing international educational conferences and seminars on the intersection of law and medicine, and teaches medical students on subjects related to local and international regulation and law required for the safe and ethical practice of medicine.
Prior to her joining Cornell, she was the Global Compliance Officer at the Johns Hopkins University. While at Hopkins, she also had a dual role of ensuring legal and financial compliance with regards to all of Hopkins' overseas educational and research programs, located in more than 100 countries. In this role, she retained lawyers and accountants in many countries, and advised the university senior leadership on the legal requirements of corporate presence, tax and labor laws, and worked with various ministries in foreign jurisdictions on compliance, reporting and financial requirements. Dr. Holmes had to ensure compliance with US laws and regulations pertaining to the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, Export Control Regulations, Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions program along with US government grant requirements in the context of clinical and research activities in foreign jurisdictions.
Dr. Holmes has over 25 years of experience as an international attorney practicing corporate and business law, and working on policy related issues in education, healthcare, and governance. Her legal expertise is in the Asia, Africa and the MENA regions and she is well versed on the legal and regulatory requirements in these jurisdictions on corporate structure and governance, tax, labor law requirements for healthcare, education and research activities. She has counseled US businesses working with foreign companies, NGOs and government agencies negotiating agreements and preparing legal documents related to international transactions, joint ventures, business formation, and agency and distribution arrangements.
Dr. Holmes was a Senior Fellow and an Adjunct Faculty member at the Georgetown University Law Center teaching international trade law and health policy. She was a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at Birzeit University and Al Quds University in the West Bank, teaching human rights law and conflict resolution. She also taught corporate governance at the Carey Business School for the Johns Hopkins University during her tenure there. Her research interests include improving access to healthcare through policy changes, improving medical education in the global context, and improving healthcare delivery to integrated healthcare teams. She has presented in numerous forums on topics such as doing business in foreign countries, developing compliance programs for foreign field offices and branch campuses, international tax requirements, among other related topics.