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Pharmacy Professor Wins MIT Global Indus Technovators Award |
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Written by Edwin Smith
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07/17/2009 |
S. Narasimha Murthy
OXFORD,
Miss. - Groundbreaking drug delivery research has earned a University
of Mississippi pharmacy professor a prestigious honor from the Indian
Business Club at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
S.
Narasimha Murthy received a Global Indus Technovators Award from MIT's
IBC for his ongoing study of electrically mediated, non-invasive
technologies for drug delivery, diagnosis and treatment of various
diseases. The assistant professor in the School of Pharmacy has
developed several technologies to rapidly infuse pharmaceuticals across
the skin and into the body.
Thus far, Murthy's electrically
mediated drug delivery techniques have shown promise in the treatment
of nail diseases, such as onychomycosis. Murthy's OcuDrain-E technique
is a potential method of treating glaucoma patients who respond poorly
to drugs.
"I'm very honored to receive this prestigious award,"
Murthy said. "Past recipients of it have all been high achievers in
their research areas, so it's good to be added to that list."
Murthy said the encouragement of Michael Repka, chair and associate professor of pharmaceutics, is largely responsible for his MIT recognition. "Without Dr. Repka's trust and support, this probably wouldn't have happened," Murthy said. "Last but not least, the support of my wife, Reena, and my parents is incredible in every step of my career."
"(Murthy) definitely deserves the award," Repka said. "He is a hard worker who secured both NIH and industry research grants within his first year at the university. We're very fortunate to have someone of Dr. Murthy's caliber in our department."
A graduate of the Bangalore University and former post-doctoral research associate at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Murthy joined the UM faculty in 2006. Previously he was on the faculty at Ohio Northern University. His research group, which consists of graduate students and post-doctoral research associates, collaborates with pharmacy schools and research institutes in India.
Murthy has to his credit more than 50 research publications, two patent applications and more than 40 conference presentations. His research programs are supported by the National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical companies.
Established in 2003, the Global Indus Technovators Awards advance the growing scientific temper among South Asian youth by honoring technological entrepreneurship. To this end, the awards target innovators under age 40 in five broad categories: biotechnology/medicine/health care, materials and devices, information technology, grassroots technology and energy. The awardees are selected from a large pool of nominations.
For more information about GITA at MIT, visit http://www.technovators.mit.edu/. For more details on Murthy's research, visit http://www.pharmacy.olemiss.edu/pharmaceutics/murthy/.
For more information visit the UM School of Pharmacy .
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