Balthasar named to NIH study section

Joseph P. Balthasar, professor and associate dean for research in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, has been selected to serve as a member of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Gene and Drug Delivery Study Section in the Center for Scientific Review.

Members are chosen for their achievements in their scientific disciplines, quality of their research accomplishments and magnitude of their publications in academic journals. Study sections review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations to NIH advisory councils or boards, and survey the status of research in their fields of science.

Membership in a study section represents a major commitment of professional time and energy, and offers the unique opportunity to contribute to national biomedical research. Balthasar will serve a four-year term that begins July 1, 2017, and ends June 30, 2021.

Director of the Center for Protein Therapeutics in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Balthasar focuses his research on the use of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analyses and mathematical modeling to guide the discovery and development of new immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmunity.

His expertise ranges from the development of monoclonal antibody drugs to improving the safety and efficiency of ovarian cancer chemotherapy-dosing strategies.

He has received numerous awards, holds more than a dozen patents, published more than 60 articles in academic journals and received grants from organizations that include the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. He is a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

Balthasar received both a doctorate and bachelor’s degree from UB.