Dr. M.N.V. Ravi Kumar, Distinguished University Research Professor at The University of Alabama and professor with the College of Community Health Sciences, was recognized by two prestigious organizations for his contributions to biomedical sciences research.
Kumar was inducted into the 2023 class of the AIMBE College of Fellows – among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. The College of Fellows is comprised of the top 2% of medical and biological engineers.
College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering or development/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education,” according to an AIMBE news release.
Kumar was nominated, reviewed and elected by peers and members of the AIMBE College of Fellows “for distinguished contributions to the field of drug delivery, particularly for outside the box periodic-functional polyesters and non-competitive targeting strategies,” according to the release. He was inducted into the AIMBE College of Fellows during a formal ceremony in Arlington, Va., March 27.
AIMBE Fellows are among the most distinguished medical and biological engineers. Three Fellows are Nobel Prize laureates, and 17 Fellows have received the Presidential Medal of Science and/or Technology and Innovation. The Washington, D.C.-based AIMBE works to bring together academic, industry, government and scientific societies to advance medical and biological engineering.
In addition, Kumar was elected as a 2023 Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. RSE Fellows are recognized as among the greatest thinkers, researchers and practitioners in their field. RSE is Scotland’s National Academy of Science and Letters, and its Fellows represent science, arts, business, sports and academia. He will be induced into the RSE during a formal ceremony in Edinburgh, Scotland, on May 30, 2023.
RSE President Professor Sir John Ball said Fellows demonstrate “outstanding commitment and achievement at the highest level across a diverse range of sectors. From scientific advancement that changes lives to leading business innovation recognized across the world, RSE welcomes the best minds to harness their unique insight and make knowledge useful for the greater good.”
Kumar, internationally recognized for his significant contributions to nanoscience and nanomedicine research with applications for the treatment of diseases, leads the UA Center for Convergent Bioscience and Medicine. Drawing upon expertise from across UA, the CCMB works to overcome obstacles that keep promising drug therapies in the laboratory from translating to treatments for patients. A center focus is immune-inflammatory diseases, with research dedicated to developing novel therapies that combine drug-discovery and drug-repurposing underpinned by innovative drug delivery strategies.
Many of the leading causes of death in the United States and Alabama can be classified under the immune-inflammatory umbrella, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders.