Krishna Kodukula Joins SRI International's Biosciences Division
MENLO PARK, Calif. -- May 24, 2006 -- SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, today announced that Krishna Kodukula, Ph.D., has joined its Biosciences Division as senior director, systems biology. Dr. Kodukula is joining SRI from Sarnoff Corporation, an SRI subsidiary where he was a distinguished member of its technical staff.
In his position at SRI, Dr. Kodukula will establish new programs and expand business opportunities, working closely with SRI’s Center of Excellence in Infectious Disease and Biodefense and Center of Excellence in Computational Biology.
"Dr. Kodukula is a results-driven scientist and manager with strong leadership skills and accomplishments in protein biochemistry, drug discovery research, technology management and entrepreneurship," said Walter Moos, Ph.D., vice president, SRI Biosciences Division. "His experience will be a great asset to SRI, and we welcome him to the organization."
Dr. Kodukula brings exceptional skills to SRI from his long tenure in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. While at Sarnoff, he was the technical lead for a national program to develop technologies and strategies for reducing the drug discovery and development time during a national emergency.
Prior to working at Sarnoff, Dr. Kodukula helped launch Small Molecule Therapeutics, a drug discovery start-up in the Princeton area, and co-found Pyxis Technology Solutions, an IT tools developer, based in India and in the US. Previously, he was a senior research investigator at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute and a fellow at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, Hoffman-La Roche. Dr. Kodukula has a Ph.D. in biochemistry and botany from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar in India, and did postdoctoral work at the Indian Institute of Science, where he was a National Biotechnology Board Fellow. He is an author of many publications and several patent applications. Dr. Kodukula is a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Society for Biomolecular Sciences He is also a member of the NIAID/NIH special panel on research and development for biodefense applications, and has served on review committees since 2004.
About SRI's Biosciences Division
SRI's Biosciences Division is a unique organization of nearly 200 people, with all of the resources necessary to take chemical and biological research programs from "idea to IND" (TM) -- from initial discovery to investigational new drug applications to start human clinical trials. The Biosciences Division performs basic research on disease mechanisms like an academic institution; drug discovery and the development of biologics like a biotechnology or pharmaceutical company; and full-service preclinical contract research and development like a CRO (contract research organization).
To date, SRI has developed nine drugs internally that have entered clinical trials, with several more currently undergoing preclinical evaluation. Marketed examples of these drugs include bexarotene and halofantrine. Additionally, working with government and industry partners, SRI has helped advance more than 100 drugs into clinical trials, and more than 30 drugs onto the market. Through collaborations with other divisions at SRI, Biosciences is also working at the interfaces of science to create technical platforms for the next generation of drug discovery and development in areas such as drug delivery, real-time diagnostics and systems biology.
About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International (www.sri.com) is one of the world’s leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for 60 years. The nonprofit research institute performs client-sponsored research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses, and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships, and creates spin-off companies.
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