Noted scientist Dr. Gopala Krishna has been promoted to the position of Vice President, Preclinical Research & Development and Competitive Intelligence at Supernus Pharmaceuticals in Rockville, MD.

Dr. Krishna continues to save the company saving significant money by choosing top notch collaborators around the globe who work for competitive prices. He is also known for his effort in efficiently resolving scientific issues at highest levels for company projects so they can progress towards Food and Drug Administration approval.

He hails from a small village in Southern India, Kaiwara in Karnataka. He came to the United States in 1981 to pursue a doctorate degree in the field of Genetics at West Virginia University.

Throughout his career, he has earned recognition for his scientific excellence and noteworthy contributions to the society. They include the distinguished alumni award by the College of Agriculture at West Virginia University in 2004; the Association of Scientists of Indian Origin â€“ Society of Toxicology leadership award in 2009; and more recently in 2014, he was the winner of the distinction as the Fellow of the Academy of Distinguished Alumni of West Virginia University as a visionary.

When his doctoral mentor, Dr. Joginder Nath, asked Krishna about this very important promotion, he replied, â€œIt is because of the values I learned at the various educational institutions that I have studied at in my life; it is the drive to add on new skill-sets at various phases in life so that I can be more valuable; it is the effort towards proactively taking advantage of the opportunities available to me along the way; it is doing what it takes to make a difference and most importantly seeing the best in othersâ€.

He believes in the phrase â€œwith the right attitude one can reach the highest altitude possibleâ€. Dr. Krishna strongly believes that, while giving his best to the institutions he has worked for, he must also give back to his home country, India. This include sharing his knowledgebase in the area of drug discovery and development through conducting workshops, giving presentations at the national and international meetings, and simply mentoring the youngsters and inspiring. He hopes this effort will point Indian scientists to accelerate the transition from copy cat manufacture of generic medicines to real innovative novel prescription medicines so higher value is created by employing the advanced technologies.

Also, as the President of the Association of Scientists of Indian Origin, which is a sub group of Society of Toxicology in the US, he was responsible for establishing endowment funds which provided international travel awards for young Indian students and scientists so that they could present their research at scientific meetings and network with global scientists in the US. Since its inception, numerous youngsters have benefited from the international travel awards.

A brief biography on Dr. Krishna includes:

Dr. Krishna received BS (1978) and MS (Genetics, 1980) from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and PhD (1984, Genetics & Developmental Biology) from the West Virginia University. He was a National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council fellow at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (WV) and Oak Ridge National Laboratories (TN) from 1984-1986 studying molecular mechanisms of drug-induced toxicity.

In 1986, Dr. Krishna joined Pfizer and worked for 15 years where his research continued in drug discovery, development and regulatory toxicology and pathology resulting in marketed drugs such as: Lipitor, Neurontin, Lyrica, Rezulin and Nipent.

In the last 15 years, he has led preclinical safety and R&D projects in multiple therapeutic areas at Abbott Labs (marketed drugs: Humira for arthritis, Kaletra for AIDS), MGI Pharma and Enzon Pharma with a focus in oncology and has been with Supernus Pharmaceuticals (for over 8 years) and currently promoted to the position: Vice President and Head of Preclinical R&D and Competitive Intelligence with a focus in neuroscience (Oxtellar XR, Trokendi XR for epilepsy) and several pipeline candidate drugs in psychiatry. He is an expert in regulatory Pharmacology/Toxicology issue resolution and has successfully dealt clinical holds particularly related to genotoxic impurities. He received an MBA in 1992 majoring in International Business, served as Adjunct Professor of Toxicology in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan and as guest lecturer at multiple US institutions. He has been an expert reviewer of grants for NIH and NIEHS. Has published ~70 research articles, 80 abstracts, and 8 book chapters and has been on the editorial boards and Guest Editor of Mutation Research and Toxicology Mechanisms and Methods.

He has served as the President of Society of Toxicology - ASIO Special interest group, continues to serve as an advisor and conducted multiple invited workshops/symposia. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology, an elected Fellow of the US Academy of Toxicological Sciences and is a recipient of multiple awards for his contributions, most recent being the winner of 2014 Distinguished Alumnus award of West Virginia University as a visionary. http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/gopala-krishna

Dr. Gopala Krishna promoted as vice president at pharma company