The Controlled Release Society (CRS) recently recognized professor Nicholas Peppas for exceptional lifetime contributions to delivery science at their 2015 Annual Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
CRS said Peppas "has been an icon in the field of controlled release through his innovative research, leadership of the Controlled Release Society and exceptional support of students. One of his many legacies is the formation of local CRS chapters to enhance globalization and student development. Therefore, CRS is honoring Nicholas Peppas via funding student travel awards so promising young scientists can attend the 2015 CRS annual meeting."
The Nicholas Peppas Student Travel Grant Program was established by contributions from former and present collaborators, companies and former students, and was supported by the CRS Foundation.
At the annual meeting, Peppas gave a plenary lecture during a special session held in his honor on "Intelligent Polymer Hydrogels: From Obscure Molecular Structures to Useful Multifunctional Systems for Drug and Protein Delivery, Targeting and Molecular Sensing." Peppas also participated in a panel with young students called "Lunch with Luminaries" and was one of three panelists in the College of Fellows Panel "How Can We Make Nanomedicine Work?"
Peppas' record of service with the CRS is extensive. In addition to organizing numerous meetings and founding local chapters, he served as president from 1987 to 1988 and is a recipient of the CRS Founders Award, the CRS Service to the Society Award, the Jorge Heller Award for Outstanding Research, and the Eurand Award for Outstanding Contributions to Oral Drug Delivery. He was an inaugural member of the CRS College of Fellows.
Peppas is a professor in the Cockrell School's Department of Biomedical Engineering and McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and the UT Austin College of Pharmacy. He holds the Cockrell Family Chair for Departmental Leadership, the Cockrell Family Regents Chair in Engineering, and is the Fellow of Marion E. Forsman Centennial Professorship in Engineering. Peppas is also the director of the university's Institute of Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Regenerative Medicine.
