January 2013 NUI Galway Appoints New Vice-President for Research

NUI Galway is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Lokesh Joshi as the new Vice President for Research, effective immediately. The role will see Professor Joshi lead the research mission for NUI Galway and firmly place NUI Galways among the top research led Universities globally.

The University has a strong commitment to research, with annual research income in the region of €58 million, over 1500 academic and research staff, and 1,200 postgraduate research students.

Professor Joshi joined the University in 2007 as a Science Foundation Ireland Stokes Professor of Glycoscience and is the Director of the Alimentary Glycoscience Research Cluster, a SFI-funded Strategic Research Cluster.

He received his PhD from Bath University, in the UK, and completed Post-Doctoral and Research Associate training at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Before joining NUI Galway, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Director of the Center for Glycoscience and Technologies in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, USA. Lokesh was also co-founder and CSO of Arizona Engineered Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing products for cardiovascular diseases.

Speaking of his appointment, Professor Joshi commented: “I am honoured to be appointed to this role. I firmly believe that NUI Galway has a unique opportunity to excel in research areas that are relevant to Ireland and the global community and am convinced that NUI Galway's excellent research community will quickly adapt to the challenging climate in research funding and continue to be successful.”

NUI Galway has internationally recognised expertise in areas including Biomedical Science and Engineering, Web Science, Human Rights, Marine Science, Energy and Environmental Science, Applied Social Sciences and Public Policy, and Humanities.

Professor Joshi’s research interest is in the role of sugars (glycans) in health and diseases and for industrial bioprocessing. The Alimentary Glycoscience Research Cluster has been very successful in securing both SFI and EU funding, and Lokesh is currently coordinating an EU-FP7 Health project called GlycoHIT which is developing novel and faster ways to detect cancer biomarkers.

Speaking on the announcement, President of NUI Galway, Dr Jim Browne, said: “I am delighted to congratulate Prof. Joshi on his appointment as Vice-President for Research.  As an accomplished and successful international researcher, Lokesh brings a unique and fresh perspective to this vital role.  I look forward to working with him to support the continued development of the University’s ambitious research agenda. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Terry Smith for his excellent contribution to the University as Vice President for Research for the last four years.”

ENDS