Director, Formulations R&D, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Gita Shankar, Ph.D., has an extensive background in pharmaceutics, biochemistry, polymer chemistry, and drug delivery. At SRI, she directs early stage preformulation of discovery compounds, preclinical formulation, and clinical product development for small molecules and biologics.
Shankar has supervised formulation development of drug product programs for more than 20 Investigational New Drug (IND) candidates and is an inventor on five oral formulation patents. One of her inventions for oral formulation of vancomycin has been successfully licensed for development as a planned treatment of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
She holds an Exemptee Certificate as a Manufacturer of Clinical Drugs, issued by the California Pharmacy Board. She is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Controlled Release Society and a nominated member of Radiation Research Society.
Shankar received her Ph.D. in polymer chemistry and drug delivery from the Center for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India. In addition, she holds a second Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Oregon Health Sciences University.