Dr. Kumar who has 16 plus years of professional experience has obtained his Ph.D. degree from Indian Institute Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi in 2001 after completing M.Pharm. and B.Pharm. from Gulbarga University in 1997 and 1995 respectively. He was awarded post doctoral fellowship by the Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center, School of Pharmacy, Amarillo, USA to perform pharmacological studies dealing with modes of actions of some bio-active constituents of therapeutically used extracts of St. Johns wort and Ginkgo biloba to better characterize and define therapeutic potentials of major bio-active constituents of the extracts mainly used for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. His research team aim to discover therapeutic hits and leads suitable for drug development purposes, or for better standardization of therapeutically used herbal extracts.
For such purposes, efforts are made to identify bio-active constituent(s) of plant extracts and to clarify their molecular mechanism of action. Therapeutic areas of his major interest are:
- Metabolic Disorders
- Mental Health Problems
- Co-morbidities
Dr. Kumars major research interest is to translate traditionally known medicinal uses of herbs in terms of modern concepts of evidence based medicine. He has published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals, three books and six chapters in books. Under his supervision, 6 Ph.D., 21 M.Pharm. and 5 M.D./M.S. students have obtained degree and currently 5 Ph.D. and 2 M.Pharm. students are working on different projects. Dr. Kumar has also visited Canada, Germany, France, China, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, South Africa and Italy to enhance his professional experience at various capacities. He has received Sami Khatib Gold Medal for being a topper in B.Pharm. and Servier Young Investigators Award instituted by Institut de Researches Internationales Servier, France.
He has also been selected for the prestigious awards Leading Scientist of the World 2008 and International Scientist of the Year 2007 by the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England. His exemplar y achievements and distinguished contributions to the scientific community at a global level, have earned a place in five World Who's Who titles. This honor has been bestowed to him with the selection of his biography in Marquis Who's Who in the World, Whos Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in America and Who's Who of Emerging Leaders published from the USA. He is also recipient of most coveted institutional and globally reputed Rashtriya Gaurav Award-2011 for his remarkable achievements in the field of Science and Technology.
He is Life Member of several professional associations. He serves as member of Editorial Board of many peer reviewed international journals. Prior to joining Banaras Hindu University as faculty member, he has worked successfully and productively in the pharmaceutical industries viz. Lupin Research Park, Pune and Indian Herbs Research & Supply Co. Ltd., Saharanpur, India. Based on his research findings, Indian Herbs Ltd. has successfully launched a product viz. MoodOn® (as a herbal antidepressant and mood enhancer) into the Indian market in collaboration with Bergen Healthcare, a division of Alkem Laboratories Ltd., Mumbai. Currently, MoodOn® is sold under the trade name EnMood®. Dr. Kumar was one of active team members at Lupin Research Park, Pune responsible for performing efficacy studies and documenting the reports for filing Investigational New Drug Application on LL-4218 (an isolated herbal fraction for the treatment of Psoriasis) with the Drug Controller General of India, New Delhi. Dr. Kumar has also successfully collaborated with Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG, Germany that have significantly contributed the knowledge of their two mega herbal products namely Vitango® and Silexan®.