PhD. Nandakumara Sarma

PhD. Nandakumara Sarma

Director, Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines, USP

United States

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

1. Director, Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines (February 2013 – present)  Senior Scientific liaison (June 2006 – January 2013) 

 Standards Division, U S Pharmacopeia, Rockville, MD 20852. 

• Headed a team that collaborates with global stakeholders and expert volunteers to drive  innovative projects, developing quality standards (monographs and general chapters) in the USP  Dietary Supplements Compendium and the Herbal Medicine Compendium 
• Published authoritative works on dietary supplement regulations focusing on safety, quality  and admission of new dietary ingredients into USP standards  
• Led strategy initiative for herbal medicine standards that prioritized quality and safety  
• Organized roundtable discussions on high-impact topics and met with regulators on  stakeholder topics of interest such as limits for pesticide residues 
• Positioned as a thought leader in quality standards for cannabis, CBD and hemp, engaging with  global regulators, industry, healthcare practitioners and academia 
• Led an industry Project Team on botanical library for DNA methods, and organized a workshop on DNA standards for botanical identification  
• Advocated for the use of quality standards through collaboration with other global standards  organizations (WHO, ANSI, ISO, ASTM, and AOAC), and governments and pharmacopeias  
• Implemented a cross-functional strategy to promote quality of dietary supplements,  collaborating with teams in marketing, communications, and business strategy 
• Holds extensive industry contacts in dietary supplements sector, including strong  engagements with trade associations  

2. Cancer Research Fellow (Aug 2004 – Jan 2006)  

National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD. 

• Developed knock-in cloning constructs for p38 alpha and p38 beta to investigate involvement  of p38 MAPKinase in autoimmune disorders 
• Conducted sub-cloning, purification and characterization of a monoclonal antibody targeting  p38 alpha pY323 

3. Post-Doctoral Fellow (March 2000 – Feb 2004) 

Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA. 

• Explored peptide-based therapeutics focused on inhibiting CD4+ T cell responses in transplant  rejections 
• Utilized range of techniques including flow cytometry, Immunoblotting, ELISAs, CTL and Kinase  assays, PCRs and Cell culture 
• Employed in vivo and in vitro models to investigate functional T cell responses, encompassing  studies on immunological synapse, proliferation, anergy and apoptosis

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4. Senior Scientific Officer (July 1996 – Jan 2000) 

Pharmaceutical Research and Development Center, The Himalaya Drug Company, India. 

• Conducted pharmacognostic and phytochemical standardization of botanical drugs ● Screened natural products for hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, and immunomodulatory activities  in animal and cell-culture models  
• Provided support for clinical evaluation of anti-hepatitis and anti-HIV formulations  
• Served as technical resource for international regulatory agencies, contributing to project  planning and coordination 

5. Project Associate (April 1994 – Nov 1995)  

National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India. 

• Explored protective effect of berberine in graft vs. host mouse models and protection against  of opportunistic infections (US patent 6,245,781) 
• Investigated immuno-protective activity of plant drugs against E.coli induced peritoneal sepsis  in mice (Indian Patents 294/DEL/96, 1996, and 620/DEL/96, 1996) 
• Examined the effect of mangiferin in septic shock and transplantation