Houston: Prof. Samba Reddy has been conferred with a Science Achievement award by the American Telangana Association, a charitable organization striving to promote the historically rich culture and traditions of Telangana across the United States.
The esteemed honor was bestowed to Prof. Reddy for his pioneering (lifetime) contributions in discovering new treatments for brain diseases and his help in reducing the disease burden in millions of patients worldwide.
The award was presented to him at the gala banquet on June 29, 2018 during the second World Telangana Convention (WTC) held at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.
The 3-day WTC program was organized in Texas-size grand manner with several thousand people in attendance and was aptly dedicated to Late Dr. C. Narayana Reddy garu.
Prof. Reddy was felicitated and presented with a award plaque by Chief Guest MP Jithender Reddy, Indian Parliament Leader for Telangana, and the WTC organizing team including Satyanarayana Kandimalla (President), Karunakar Madhavaram (Chairman), Ram-Mohan Konda (past-president), Bangar Reddy (Convener), Sridhar Kanchanakuntla (Director), Jagapathi Veerati (Coordinator), members of the Board, Advisory, Executive, and Convention Committees.
Dr. Reddy is a tenured Professor of Medicine at Texas A&M University, a premier institution in the world and the tenth largest university in the nation.
“Prof. Reddy is one of the global leaders and an outstanding scientist in pharmacology,” said the award citation published in the WTC Special Souvenir.
“For more than 20 years, he worked tirelessly to advance drug development in epilepsy, with an emphasis on translational research, and has attained an international reputation in the field.”
Science achievement is a prestigious honor given to those top professionals who achieved the greatest success in their research field and helping the public.
Prof. Reddy, a humble and dedicated public servant, is fondly called “Telangana muddu bidda” for bringing pride to his motherland Telangana in India.
Prof. Reddy hails from Cherlapally village in Warangal in Telangana, India. After graduating with a pharmacy degree from Kakatiya University, he completed his doctorate at Panjab University. Afterward, he migrated to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship.
Despite an attractive and lucrative career in pharmacy and the pharmacology industry, he chose academic research because of his natural proclivity and fascination with researching brain diseases.
After postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington D.C, he worked at North Carolina State University with the support of multiple NIH grants. Since relocating to Texas A&M in 2008, he has made improbable and brilliant accomplishments in pharmacology and experimental neurotherapeutics.
Prof. Reddy has characterized the mechanism and function of neurosteroids in the brain. He discovered a novel antidote for chemical nerve agents, identified extrasynaptic GABA-receptors, invented epigenetic therapy, and helped develop first-in-class medicines for epilepsy, status epilepticus, and brain injury. This work has produced a profound impact in advancing new drugs to clinical trials and has benefitted thousands of patients all over the world.
He has recently cracked the code for treating catamenial epilepsy after a 15 year battle. During his research on catamenial epilepsy, he established a widely accepted experimental model, deeply explored the electrophysiological mechanisms, and invented neurosteroid-replacement therapy for this epilepsy.
He has secured nearly $1 million in federal funding per year, which is almost unheard of with such tight budgets for research funding.
Prof. Reddy has been inducted as fellow in three major organizations — the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the American Epilepsy Society (AES). These recognitions and titles testify for his preeminent status in the American pharma research enterprise.
He won a number of awards for his research excellence, including the NIH Research Excellence award, ASPET award, Sigma-Xi Faculty Research award, ASIOA Scientist award, NATA award, TANA Award, ATA Science award, Hind Rattan award, AAPI award, and Texas A&M Medicine Excellence in Research award.
Prof. Reddy’s lab is currently studying post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE), a condition observed in soldiers after brain injury.
His group is exploring how epigenetics could contribute to PTE in veterans. Presently, there is no medicine for mitigating this intractable epilepsy and associated memory problems.
He has identified a novel class of drugs for preventing or curing this disorder: epigenetic HDAC inhibitors. Dr. Reddy’s discovery was recently published as cover story in the JPET journal.
Prof. Reddy has published over 180 scientific papers and numerous books/chapters. His publications are available online: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2735-9550
He has been actively involved in charitable and community service organizations. His biography has been registered in the Indian science as one the top pharmacologists of India.
“I am extremely grateful WTC organizers to be given such a prestigious award at such a young stage of my career. Many people have contributed to the research being honored here and I gratefully acknowledge their incredible help. I am dedicating this award to my late mother and father in their memory and inspiration,” Prof. Reddy said.
