Virender Kumar

Dr. Virender Kumar serves as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Toledo. His research program addresses critical challenges in drug delivery through nanomedicine applications for complex diseases including liver fibrosis and multiple cancer types.

His primary research focuses on developing nanoformulations to manipulate biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, and metabolism of small molecules and biologics. Key areas include treatment of nonalcoholic/alcoholic liver fibrosis and cancers (medulloblastoma, pancreatic, melanoma), bioanalytical assay development using UPLC-MS/MS/HRMS, and creating disease models for tumors, liver conditions, and organ injuries in small animals. He integrates advanced material sciences with drug discovery principles to solve therapeutic challenges.

Scientific Awards:

• NIH K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (2021-2026)

Dr. Kumar leads as Principal Investigator on two NIH grants: an R21 exploring innovative nanoformulation approaches (2023-2025) and the K01 career development award (2021-2026). He also serves as Co-Investigator on three R01 grants (2024-2027), demonstrating significant collaborative research impact in pharmaceutical sciences. His work receives continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for translational drug delivery research.

His laboratory at the University of Toledo's Health Science Campus specializes in nanoformulation development and disease modeling, utilizing advanced bioanalytical techniques to address unmet medical needs in liver fibrosis and oncology.