Darren Sledjeski, Ph.D., is the Director of the Division of Extramural Activities (DEA), and the executive secretary of the NIAMS Advisory Council. As director of DEA, he oversees the grant-related activities of the Institute, including grants policies and procedures; the development of funding opportunities; and the receipt, referral, review and fiscal management of grants. Dr. Sledjeski also advises senior staff on the planning, development and administration of grant activities.

He was formerly the Deputy Director of the Division of Extramural Activities at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Prior to that he was chief of the Genetic Mechanisms Branch in the Division of Genetics and Molecular, Cellular, and Development Biology at NIGMS. Before moving to NIGMS he was a scientific review officer and scientific initiatives manager in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Office of Initiative Development. 

Dr. Sledjeski came to NIH from the University of Toledo Medical Center, where he was first assistant and later an associate professor in the department of microbiology and immunology.