Dr.Samba Reddy conferred with NATA Research Excellence Award

Houston: Dr. Samba Reddy, an Indian-born scientist working in Texas, was the recipient of the 2012 Research Award of Excellence in Drug Discovery, NATA's highest honor for scientists in the USA.

He has won this award for his outstanding contributions to pharmaceutical research over the last 20 years. On June 29, the NATA President and Chief Guests presented the award recognizing 'his pioneering work on the discovery of new medicines for neurological diseases and for discovering many novel treatments, which has a profound impact on reducing the burden of brain diseases in millions of patients worldwide'.

NATA honors are awarded bi-annually to exemplify a life dedicated to research, entrepreneurship, literature, and community service. The award banquet was held at the Hilton Americas in Downtown Houston which was attended by over 1500 invitees from all over US including board members, advisors, committee chairs, doctors, entrepreneurs, IT professionals, artists, film stars, politicians, media and some guests from India.

Dr. Reddy is an internationally acclaimed pharmacologist working in the area of new drug discovery and development of new therapies to treat neurological diseases such as Epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, premenstrual anxiety syndrome, stress disorders and brain injury.

His research has the potential of providing cures for patients suffering from devastating neurological conditions such as epilepsy, migraine, and depression.

The U.S. Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee (D, Texas), who gave an inaugural speech at the NATA meeting, personally congratulated Dr. Reddy for his research in Texas. Indian consulate officer in Houston Anil Matta appreciated him for bringing pride to the Indian community with his research innovations.

Dr. Samba Reddy has been selected for this prestigious award by a panel of eight senior persons led by chair Dr. Ram Reddy, a Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

He was nominated to this honor by the Nobel Prize nominee Dr. M.S. Reddy and the pharmaceutical businessman Dr. Malla Reddy. 'I am very grateful to this organization and beholden to nominators Dr. M.S. Reddy and Dr. Malla Reddy and advisors Drs. Prem Reddy, Sanjeeva Reddy, Mohan Mallam and Dharma Reddy for this great honor' said Dr. Samba Reddy.

The award nominators have stated that 'Dr. Samba Reddy is an outstanding researcher and has already made an exceptional contribution to the pharmaceutical & neuroscience research fields during the past 20 years, apart from serving as a national scientific expert member in several prestigious National committees (U.S. Department of Health & United States Pharmacopoeia) and U.S. Department of Defense biomedical review panels in Washington DC.

He has extraordinary ability in research and has risen to the very top of the field of endeavor. He works in an academic setting, contributes to health care, education, and actively participates in social services. Therefore, his contributions are truly exceptional and certainly deserve special recognition from the NATA and Telugu community in the U.S.'

Dr. Samba Reddy is presently a tenured Associate Professor & Principal Investigator of the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at Texas A&M University system (www.tamu.edu), a premier institution and the 6th largest university in the U.S.

He is involved in teaching medical courses and directing a research program in new drug discovery and development. He is a board-certified pharmacist in the U.S. He holds a special assignment as a Chartered Member of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant Review panel, one of the biggest scientific honors.

He is a member of the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP, a gold-standard compendium for pharmaceuticals), Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Nanotechnology, and Review Editor of the Aging Neuroscience journal.

'He has creatively and persistently wrestled with some of the biggest questions in pharmaceutical discovery research. His discoveries have not only clarified how neurosteroids work, a stubborn mystery several years ago, but they have also illuminated the causes and treatment of diseases as diverse as epilepsy, migraine and psychiatric disorders,' said the IMAC chairman Dr. M.S. Reddy.

Dr. Samba Reddy is from Cherlapally village (Parkal), Warangal district in Andhra Pradesh, and fourth son of late Raji Reddy and Radhamma.

He has been married to Savitha, a board-certified pharmacist, for 17 years and blessed with two sons, Sandy (14) and Steve (5).

Despite being from a humble rural background, he has excelled in education and research fields. After primary education in his native Cherlapally village in Warangal district, he attended High School in Parkal, and got his Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm) from Govt. Junior College, Parkal.

He completed the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree (B.Pharm) in 1992 from Kakatiya University, Warangal, with distinctions and university-wide top rank in all subjects.

In 1992, he received six Gold Medals from Andhra Pradesh Governor Krishna Kanth for his academic excellence. He was the topper of the All India GATE exam in 1992, secured a 99.56% score. He did M.Pharm (1994) and Ph.D. degrees (1998) in Pharmacology from Panjab University in Chandigarh.