Professor meets criteria for elite research award

American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists president Marilyn E. Morris presents Soumyajit Majumdar with the Lipid-Based Drug Delivery Outstanding Research Award.

University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy professor was honored by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists at its annual meeting in November.

Soumyajit Majumdar, associate director of the Pii Center for Pharmaceutical Technology and associate professor of pharmaceutics and drug delivery, was presented with the Lipid-Based Drug Delivery Outstanding Research Award.

“AAPS receives applications and nominations for this award from researchers around the world,” Majumdar said. “To be selected from such a pool of applicants is a tremendous honor for me and a personal milestone.”

The award recognizes significant contributions brought about by innovative research to understand and effectively apply lipid excipients in the development of oral and topical dosage forms.

Majumdar’s research is in the field of transmucosal drug delivery, i.e., administration of drugs through a mucous membrane. His studies focus particularly on delivery to the eye. A large portion of his formulation work is based on lipid-based systems such as nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers.

“My studies have demonstrated that solid lipid nanoparticles, with or without surface modification, can significantly increase ocular penetration, retention and bioavailability of lipophilic drug and drug candidates,” he said. “Increased retention and ocular bioavailability will have a significant positive impact on therapeutic outcomes in diseases affecting the eye.”

Additionally, Majumdar worked with a team in the Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery that developed a novel process to prepare solid lipid nanoparticles using hot-melt extrusion technology.

Michael A. Repka, chair of the pharmaceutics and drug delivery department, said that Majumdar’s award is even more prestigious because it hasn’t been given since 2011.

“For the past two years, no researcher met the criteria for this award,” he said. “The fact that AAPS selected Dr. Majumdar for the 2014 honor is significant but not surprising. It is well-deserved, and I am extremely happy for him.”

Majumdar has been a member of AAPS since 2002. He served on the organization’s Nasal Drug Delivery Focus Group Committee and was also chair of the AAPS student chapter at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He said that receiving the award was motivational.

“This recognition will further stimulate and invigorate my research interests and efforts in this field,” he said.