Project Investigator Biography

Bimal Banik, Ph.D. University of Texas - Pan American University of Texas – Pan American, 1201 W. University Drive, Edinburg, TX 78539-2999 phone: (956)380-8741 fax: (956) 381-5006 email: banik@utpa.edu

Dr. Bimal K. Banik is the First President’s Endowed Professor of Science and Engineering and a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas Pan American. He has been a Faculty Member at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston for many years, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, England. He has served as the Principal Investigator of several research grants by National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Private Foundations, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and UTPA. As the PI and PD of the University of Texas-Pan American MSI, Dr. Banik started the PACHE partnership with Dr. Susan Naylor of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 2008. Dr. Banik is the author of more than 360 publications, presentations, and patents that explore organic and biomedical science of anticancer agents and antibiotics.

Professor Banik is involved in research on the design, synthesis, biological evaluation and mechanism of action of novel organic compounds that may find useful applications for different types of medical disorders including cancer and infection. He has developed synthesis of new beta-lactams and polycyclic aromatic compounds that have demonstrated anticancer activity against various cancer cell lines in cell cultures and in animal models. His current interests are to develop collaborative research and student training partnerships between the University of Texas Pan American and the Cancer Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in order to increase and improve cancer research. These projects are directed to develop basic, translational, clinical, and educational research on cancer related health disparities.

He has chaired 13 sessions at various US National Meetings and the Nobel Prize Celebration Meeting in Germany. He was the Chair of the Faculty Research Council of the UTPA for the past 3 years. He organized UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Drug discovery symposium. He is serving as an Editorial Board Member for 6 international journals. He is a reviewer of 31 journals sponsored by ACS, Royal Society, Elsevier and John Wiley and NIH, NSF, NRC and international grant applications. His research has been highlighted in 120 media exposures and approximately 2700 journal citations.