Balu-Iyer appointed Associate Dean for Research

In this role, Balu-Iyer will work with faculty and staff to identify and pursue opportunities for research and research training programs and funding and will represent our school in collaborative efforts. 

Balu-Iyer, a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, leads an innovative and productive research program in the area of protein therapeutics and immunotherapy. His research has received consistent NIH funding, securing multiple $1 million+ NIH grants as a principal investigator or co-investigator.

Since 2002, Balu-Iyer has received more than $5 million in funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for his research on improving therapeutic efficiency of protein drugs by reducing or reversing unwanted immune responses.

He has produced seminal research on taxol-lipid interactions, the foundational formulation for life-saving cancer drugs. His innovative work in lipid biochemistry has most recently expanded into the area of immune regulatory effects of phospholipids and has had a significant impact on science, having led to the design of strategies to reduce unwanted immune response to therapeutic use of Factor VIII and other life-saving protein-based therapies by inducing immunological tolerance. The platform technology is being explored for use in treating autoimmune conditions such as Type I diabetes and allergies. For this work he received Innovation in Biotechnology Award from American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists – National Biotechnology Conference in 2013.

Balu-Iyer received a 2017 University at Buffalo Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement for his transformative research in the development of protein drugs. He also received a UB Teaching innovation award in 2011.

His work at UB has resulted in nine patents filed and has an additional 29 disclosures or patent filings pending review. His innovative research has resulted in two companies being established to commercialize his intellectual property.

Over the course of his professional career, he has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications, been an invited speaker at over 50 national and international conferences and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In 2013, he was inducted as an American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences Fellow for recognition of his sustained contributions in the pharmaceutical sciences.