Namas Chandra

Namas Chandra is a Distinguished Professor of Bio-Medical Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). He holds leadership roles as Director of the Center for Injury Bio, Material and Medicine and the Institute for Brain and Neuroscience Research. His research focuses on the mechanisms of blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI), including cavitation, shock wave dynamics, and neuroinflammatory pathways. He has pioneered studies on nanoparticle-based therapies for neuroprotection and developed field-relevant animal models of blast injury.

Key research interests include:

• Primary blast injury mechanisms and injury criteria
• Microglial activation and chronic neuroinflammation
• Nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery systems
• Neurobehavioral outcomes in TBI models
• Biomechanical modeling of blast-induced brain deformation

He has secured over 25 federal grants from agencies like the U.S. Navy, NIH, and NSF. Notable projects include investigating cavitation mechanisms in bTBI and developing protective protocols against blast overpressure. His work has been recognized with the 2020 Excellence in Research Award at NJIT.

Recent research highlights include advances in transferrin-conjugated albumin nanoparticles for targeted neuroprotection and studies on genotype-dependent hippocampal gene expression changes post-blast. Collaborations span biomechanical engineering, neuroscience, and nanotechnology disciplines.