Tshaka Cunningham is the Chief Scientific Officer of Polaris Genomics, a company focused on diagnosis and treatment for individuals with behavioral health conditions, and Executive Director of the Faith Based Genetics Research Institute.

[7] His doctoral thesis was "Exploring the Early Events in the HIV-1 Life Cycle: From Post-Entry Restriction to Nuclear Import".

[9] Cunningham started his career as a research scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he worked on development of assays to identify drugs for cardiovascular diseases.

He also was an advisor to the VHA ORD Genomic Medicine Implementation Program and convened the Million Veteran Program-Diversity Working Group.

Cunningham is a founding member and Executive Director of the Faith Based Genomic Research Institute.