MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, Inc. (NIPTE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ajaz Hussain, Ph.D., as its new executive director. Ajaz joined NIPTE in October 2014 devoting 50% of his time to this position. He will continue to operate his consulting firm.
"We are delighted to have Dr. Hussain as our new executive director"
Ajaz received his bachelor's degree in pharmacy from the University of Mumbai in 1981 and doctorate from the University of Cincinnati in 1986. He began his academic career at Ohio Northern University before coming back to the University of Cincinnati initially as assistant research professor progressing to a tenured associate professor. During his years at University of Cincinnati he established a research program in computer aided formulation design and applications of artificial neural networks in modeling pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics data. In 1995, Ajaz moved to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where he served in various positions before becoming deputy director of its Office of Pharmaceutical Studies in 2000. He also held a Senior Biomedical Research Scientist position. He is widely recognized for his leadership of several FDA initiatives such as Process Analytical Technology and Pharmaceutical Quality for the 21st Century. Ajaz also served as the FDA Lead (Quality) and played a key role in negotiations for the establishment of several ICH Guidelines. Following a ten-year career at FDA, Ajaz served as Vice President and Global Head of Biopharmaceutical Development at Sandoz AG where he was responsible for development and regulatory submissions of biosimilars, follow-on proteins, and complex generic products. He also served as Vice President Next Generation Product Assessment and then as Chief Scientific Officer at Philip Morris International in Switzerland developing strategies and systems for advancing development programs on plant-based vaccines and products for tobacco harm reduction. In 2012-2013, Ajaz became President Biotechnology and Chief Scientific Office at Wockhardt Ltd before founding his own consulting company, Insight, Advice and Solutions, LLC, in July 2013. Ajaz is a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and of the Swiss Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences and recipient of several FDA and professional association awards. He has co-authored numerous scientific publications in the area of pharmaceutical science and holds several visiting professorships.
"We are excited to being able to recruit such an outstanding leader," said Natalie Eddington, Ph.D., chair of the NIPTE board of directors and dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Maryland.
"We are delighted to have Dr. Hussain as our new executive director," said Vadim Gurvich, Ph.D., M.B.A., NIPTE associate director and research associate professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Minnesota. "He has been widely credited for being instrumental in various FDA key scientific initiatives that made him a well-known leader in the area of drug regulations. A former academic, an FDA leader, and a Pharma executive, Ajaz brings the richness of his executive and regulatory experiences that complement and enhance the outstanding science and engineering capabilities of our academic membership. His leadership will be instrumental to achieving NIPTE goals in pharmaceutical, translational and manufacturing science and education."
NIPTE is a non-profit research organization headquartered in Minneapolis whose membership includes 13 top US universities in pharmaceutical science and engineering. Current members are universities of Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland - Baltimore, Michigan, Minnesota, Puerto Rico, and Wisconsin, as well as Duquesne University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Purdue University, and Rutgers University.
Contacts
NIPTE
Mary Crosson, 612-624-4728
[email protected]
www.nipte.org