May 22, 2013
James Byrne, a graduate student in the Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics, has been awarded the grand prize in the second annual Catalent Institutes’ Global Academic Competition for Life Science Leaders of Tomorrow. Byrne’s adviser is Joe DeSimone, PhD, the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry.
Byrne won the grand prize of $5,000 for his winning submission, “Treating Human Autoimmunity with Immunotherapy.” Winners were chosen from U.S. and European universities with graduate programs in pharmaceutical science, including St. John’s University, Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Purdue University, and Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany. Competition entries consisted of original review articles addressing topics such as drug development, delivery technologies, improving therapeutic profiles and bioavailability, preformulation, and pediatric drugs.
“I congratulate James on winning this prestigious award in competition with some of the world’s foremost scientific talent at the graduate level,” says Mike Jay, PhD, chair of MOPH and Eshelman Distinguished Professor.
Additionally, the Catalent Institute partnered with the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists to reward students’ participation in the academic competition with a complimentary, one-year AAPS membership.
“Partnering with leading academic centers throughout the world is an important part of our mission at the Institute,” says Terry Robinson, executive director of the Catalent Applied Drug Delivery Institute. “Research and development collaborations with academic institutions foster innovation in applied drug delivery technology which can result in better treatments and improved patient care. The institute is grateful to the participating universities for encouraging their students to pursue this wonderful opportunity.”
Byrne earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He entered the School’s PhD program in fall 2008 and is pursuing a combined MD/PhD.
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