Congratulations to Dr. Raman Bahal on being selected as a 2025–2028 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine (ELHM) Scholar by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). This highly competitive honor is awarded to only 10 individuals nationally each year and reflects Dr. Bahal’s outstanding contributions and leadership in health and medicine. Dr. Bahal is the first CPPR faculty member to be an Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine. Read more at: Pharmacy Professor Honored by National Academy of Medicine – UConn Today.

CPPR student, Saeed Najafian, from the lab of Dr. Bodhi Chaudhuri at UConn School of Pharmacy, in collaboration with CPPR mentors Parind Desai and Elaheh Ardalani from GSK, received 3^rd place in the Academic Research Award for his presentation: CFD-DEM modeling of Suspension Mixing in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing at the recent AAPS NERDG Conference which was held in April 2025 in Groton, CT. Congratulations, Saeed!

The next CPPR Scientific Conference will be held at Purdue University, October 27-29, 2025.

CPPR Student, Mittal Darji, from the lab of Professor Xiuling Lu, was the recipient of the Steve Nail Emerging Researcher Award at the CPPR Scientific Conference held at University of Connecticut in May 2025. Vahid Zia from Gilead presented Mittal with the award.

Over 60 industrial scientists, faculty and students convened at UConn School of Pharmacy for the Semi-Annual Scientific Conference, and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Dane O. Kildsig Center for Pharmaceutical Processing Research (CPPR). The conference was packed with dynamic discussions, progress updates for ongoing and recently completed projects, as well as new project proposals. The conference culminated with the Industrial Advisory Board voting to fund several new projects.

In honor of Dr. Rodolfo Pinal, former CPPR director, a Purdue University endowment has been established in his name. This endowment will fund an award for students, helping to foster the next generation of researchers and innovators. If you wish to contribute to the endowment, please follow this link: https://giving.purdue.edu/west-lafayette/?q=pinal

Dr. Kinnari Arte, currently a scientist with AstraZeneca, has successfully defended her Ph.D. Thesis. Kinnari studied spray freeze drying of mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccines: ‘Understanding the Impact of Spray Freeze Drying on RNA/LNP Formulations’ as a CPPR student under the mentorship of Dr. Qi (Tony) Zhou, CPPR Assistant Site Director at Purdue University. Congratulations on this milestone achievement!

Dr. Qi (Tony) Zhou has been approved by the Purdue Board of Trustees as a Full Professor of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics.  Tony is the Assistant Site Director for CPPR at Purdue. We congratulate him on this well-deserved accomplishment!

Dr. Xiuling Lu, CPPR faculty and Professor of Pharmaceutics at UConn School of Pharmacy, has been inducted into the CT Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE). Dr. Lu is working to develop new drug delivery systems and improving manufacturing processes. She joins CPPR faculty, Dr. Bodhi Chaudhuri, who was inducted in 2024. Read more here: UConn’s Influence on CASE: Research Contributions, Policy Impact, and Future Trends in Connecticut – Forward Pathway

AbbVie joins Alexion, Alkermes, Astrazeneca, ATS Scientific Products, Boehringer-Ingelhiem, Gilead, Glaxosmithkline, Lilly, Otsuka, Roquette, and Sanofi on the CPPR Industrial Advisory Board.  We look forward to AbbVie’s participation in our quest to advance pharmaceutical processing. The funds that AbbVie has committed to CPPR research are pooled with those of the other member companies.  The funds support rigorous academic research into industrially relevant pharmaceutical processing research at the CPPR academic sites, with mentorship from representatives from CPPR companies.