July Director of CÚRAM Elected to Fellowship of the Irish Academy of Engineering

Professor Abhay Pandit, Scientific Director of CÚRAM at NUI Galway has been elected to Fellowship of the Irish Academy of Engineering. This distinction has been bestowed on Professor Pandit by the Academy in recognition of his “exceptional career and contribution to the advancement of engineering and economic and social progress in Ireland”. 

The Irish Academy of Engineering is an all-island body with a mission to advance the wellbeing of the country by marshalling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to policy makers on matters involving engineering and technology. Fellowship of the Academy recognises outstanding distinction in engineering in Ireland and overseas, covering academia, public sector, industry and engineering consultancy, with a current membership of 146. 

Abhay Pandit is an Established Professor of Biomaterials. He is Scientific Director of CÚRAM, the Centre for Research in Medical Devices at NUI Galway, a multi-disciplinary academic-industry-clinician translational research centre funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Professor Pandit’s research integrates material science and biological systems in developing solutions for chronic diseases. Professor Pandit has developed advanced drug delivery vehicles, which facilitate highly controlled localised and sustained delivery of multiple biomolecules to target injury mechanisms at the molecular and cellular levels.

These biomaterial platforms have been demonstrated to act as templates for constructive reorganisation of existing tissues and for the induction of new functional, site-appropriate, tissue formation. These platforms have been developed for neural, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular clinical targets with numerous other targets currently under development.

Professor Pandit has received numerous awards and distinctions. He was the first Irish academic to be inducted as an International Fellow in Biomaterials Science and Engineering by the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering and elected as a Fellow of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative International Society. He was also elected to the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows in recognition of his outstanding contributions to establishing a national centre which will develop transformative device-based solutions to treat global chronic diseases.

Abhay Pandit has been an elected member on the Council for both the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society and European Society for Biomaterials Society. He has hosted the TERMIS-EU meeting in 2010 and ESB in 2011, both for the very first time in Ireland. He is also the current chair-elect of TERMIS-EU since 2019. Professor Pandit has published more than 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals, filed numerous patent applications and has licensed four technologies to medical device companies. Professor Pandit serves on the Executive Editorial Board of the Tissue Engineering journal and is an Associate Editor of the Biomaterials journal. He has coordinated four EU grants to date and has generated research contracts from industry and government funding agencies totalling €90 million.

President of NUI Galway, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, said: “On behalf of colleagues at NUI Galway, I extend warmest congratulations to Abhay on this recognition by the Irish Academy of Engineering. His election to Fellowship signals the immense and continuing contribution which Abhay continues to make to the field of engineering in Ireland, in particular to the area of tissue engineering. I’m delighted to see his achievements so justly recognised by the Academy in this way.”

Speaking about his Fellowship, Professor Abhay Pandit, NUI Galway, said: “It is an honour to be elected to the Irish Academy of Engineering. I look forward to building on this achievement to further enhance the impact of tissue engineering at NUI Galway and to further the growth and international recognition of the medical device sector here in the West of Ireland.” 

For more information about the Irish Academy of Engineering, visit: http://iae.ie/

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