Dr. Rahul K Keswani is Director, Technical Services at Exelead, Inc (soon to be a division of Merck KGaA, USA). His broad research and career interests lie in the field of systemic therapy via formulation and production of nanomedicinal and smart therapeutics. He is currently working with academic and industrial partners to develop and commercialize various lipid-based drug delivery systems, particularly toward optimized delivery of antibiotics as well as targeted delivery of oligonucleotides, mRNA candidates and proteins/peptides.
Dr. Keswani has been trained in formulation sciences through multiple academic stints, the latest being a Senior Research Fellowship in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, housed within the University of Michigan Health System at Ann Arbor, MI. As part of the Macrophage-targeted Drug Development Team under the mentorship of Dr. Gus Rosania, he published heavily on the biocrystallization and macrophage-mediated transformation of clofazimine in the human body with potential implications in targeting and controlled release of therapeutics and theranostics. He was partly funded via MICHR (Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research) Earlier, he received his MS and PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. His graduate research was on the development and sub-cellular characterization of novel gene therapy vectors combining the superlative efficiency of retroviruses with the flexible capabilities of polymers and lipids to create a superior hybrid design. His graduate research mentor was Prof. Daniel W. Pack, currently the Ashland, Inc Chair at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Keswani has been recognized via multiple awards and honors such as being invited as one of the 50 Leaders of Tomorrow for the year 2016 by the BioHealth Capital Region Forum; Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award by the University of Michigan and the Catherine Connor Outstanding Dissertation Award at the University of Illinois. Dr. Keswani has authored 24 research articles, 3 patents/patent applications and has given 50+ conference/symposia talks and invited presentations. Contact me at rkeswani-at-gmail-dot-com. updated - 05 February, 2022 |
Recent Updates18 Oct, 2021
Dr. Keswani was promoted to Director, Technical Services to align strategic directions in product development and cGMP manufacturing of various specialty nanomedicinal products including mRNA vaccines, RNA based gene editing platforms and various other specialized formulations. His group consists of multiple formulation scientists, chemical engineers and process/facility validation specialists catering to >20 different formulations and their development or cGMP manufacturing. 05 Apr, 2021 Dr. Keswani was promoted to Associate Director to further Exelead's early stage product development programs and continue to lead the formulations group at Exelead. 14 Feb, 2019 Exelead, Inc has a mentoring program that reaches out to the students at the local high school to interact with and make them aware about career building, interviews, resumes, college experiences and other professional development activities. It has been a very rewarding experience to be involved in such activities supported strongly by the executive leadership. See more info here - link 26 Jan, 2019 Dr. Keswani was promoted to lead a small but dedicated group of project engineers and associates to help accelerate early-stage projects towards optimal formulations, optimized process unit operations and clinical implementation. News Archivepre-2015
17 Dec, 2014
Dr. Keswani's work with Dr. Mark Hwang and Dr. Daniel W. Pack on the intracellular trafficking of dendrimer-based non-viral vectors compared to polymer-based vectors has been accepted for publication in Pharmaceutical Research. This paper stems from Dr. Keswani's work in the Pack Laboratory in the University of Illinois (link) 2-6 Nov, 2014
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on the chemical, optical, biochemical and therapeutic implications of clofazimine biocrystals along with the entire Macrophage-targeted Drug Development Team at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA. 24 Oct, 2014
Dr. Keswani will served as a invited judge at the 2014 Graduate Research Symposium, Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - (link) Mass Transfer Newsletter (link) 9 Oct, 2014
M-Cubed 2014 Schedule Our Macrophage-targeted Drug Development Team was chosen for a show-case presentation at the Annual M-Cubed symposium! Check out the video above. 30 Jun, 2014 Dr. Keswani's follow-up paper on the design of hybrid chitosan-based retroviral gene delivery vectors was accepted for publication in the Journal of Controlled Release, a premier pharmaceutics journal published by the Controlled Release Society (link) 17-21 May, 2014
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on the flow cytometric analysis of drug sequestering macrophages at CYTO - Congress of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry in Fort Lauderdale, FL. 15-16 May, 2014
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on the self-assembly of clofazimine biocrystals at the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism and Disposition Group Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, IN. 22 Apr, 2014
Dr. Keswani's patent application on a continuous chromatography process for improved techno-economic recovery of ethanol and butanediol with former colleagues at Orochem Technologies has been granted. (link) 15 Nov, 2013
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on the biomolecular engineering of intracellular crystals at the 1st Annual MCubed Symposium at the University of Michigan. 01 July, 2013
Dr. Keswani joins the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Macrophage-targeted Drug Development Team, headed by Dr. Gus Rosania. 13 Mar, 2013 One of the first papers on the design of lipid-hybrid retroviral vectors has been accepted for publication in Molecular Pharmaceutics, a respected journal in pharmaceutics published by the American Chemical Society. This paper stems from Dr. Keswani's work in the Pack Laboratory in the University of Illinois (link) 30 Jul, 2012 Dr. Keswani has joined Orochem Technologies as a Senior Process Engineer to develop simulated moving bed chromatography technologies for downstream purification in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and biochemical sectors. 16 Apr, 2012 Dr. Keswani has been invited to present his work on the design of hybrid retroviral vectors at Pfizer in Pearl River, NY! 3 Apr, 2012 PhD Defense Rahul Keswani (Dr. Keswani) defended his thesis - "Design of Hybrid Retroviral/Synthetic Gene Delivery Vectors". 4 Feb, 2012 Rahul has been invited to present his work on the design of hybrid retroviral vectors at Orochem Technologies in Lombard, IL! 1 Jan, 2012 - 16 Jan, 2012
Rahul was highlighted on his immersion trip to Accra and Cape Coast in Ghana s part of the Global Health Initiative Team from the University of Illinois in the ChBE newsletter. (link) (p10-11) 2015
25-29 Oct, 2015
Dr. Keswani will be co-moderating a session on Vibrational Microspectroscopy at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL with Dr. Gus Rosania entitled - "Good Vibrations! How Stretching, Twisting and Bending Chemical Bonds Can Reveal Drug Hideaways and Transport Routes" 25-29 Oct, 2015
Dr. Keswani will be presenting the 3D model of the clofazimine biocrystals at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL. 18 Aug, 2015
Dr. Keswani was awarded the 2015 Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award by the University of Michigan Postdoctoral Association! 14 Aug, 2015
Macrophage-targeted Drug Sequestering featured on the College of Pharmacy Research News! Click here 5 Jun, 2015
Dr. Keswani's work on characterizing the derivatives of clofazimine for intracellular accumulation and optical/microscopy properties in support of Dr. Kyoung Ah Min's work was published in Advanced Science! (link) 7-8 May, 2015
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on the chemical and optical analyses as well as the 3D structural model of clofazimine biocrystals at the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism and Disposition Group Annual Meeting in Ann Arbor, MI 22 May, 2015
Dr. Keswani's work on developing macrophage-tracking tools using flow cytometry via the fluorescence modulation of biocrystals has been accepted for publication in Cytometry A! (link) 29 Apr, 2015
Dr. Keswani's papers on the chemical analysis and characterization (link) as well as the augmented anti-inflammatory activity (with Dr. Gi Sang Yoon) (link) of clofazimine-associated biocrystals has been accepted for publication in Molecular Pharmaceutics! 11 Apr, 2015
Dr. Keswani's final thesis chapter on the modulation of intracellular trafficking of retroviral vectors via polymers and lipids was published in Journal of Controlled Release (link) 15 Jan, 2015 Dr. Gus Rosania's grant proposal co-written with Dr. Keswani and Dr. Xueding Wang and group on the development of a small-molecula photoacoustic macrophage-targeted theranostic agent has been funded by the Michigan Institute of Clinical & Health Research as a pilot grant! 2016
19 Dec, 2016
Dr. Keswani's contribution in support of the analysis by the Stringer Lab of clofazimine bioaccumulation and associated systemic metabolic changes was published in Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. (link) 19 Dec, 2016
Dr. Keswani has joined Exelead, Inc as a Senior Formulation Scientist in the Process Engineering Department to focus on formulation, process development and eventual manufacture of next-generation lipid-based and liposomal therapeutics. 31 Oct, 2016
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on employing supramolecular assemblies for design of new-generation pharmaceutics as an invited speaker in the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of Louisville! 26 Oct, 2016
Dr. Keswani's contribution in support of the work done on the connections between yoga practice and reduced stress and improved cognition by Dr. Neha Gothe and Dr. Edward McAuley was published in Biological Psychology. (link) (Press Release) 1 Sep, 2016
Dr. Keswani's contribution in support of the analysis of siRNA delivery mechanisms mediated via polymers and lipids in human cells was published in Pharmaceutical Research. The primary author is Dr. Mihael Lazebnik, now at Genentech. (link) 4 Aug, 2016
Dr. Keswani's US patent application on the design of biomimetic, intracellular pharmaceutical crystals is published online. The co-inventors include members of the Macrophage-Targeted Drug Development Team as well as collaborators at the University of Michigan Medical School - (Dr. Xueding Wang and group) 18 Apr, 2016
Dr. Keswani has been invited as a participant in the Leaders of Tomorrow Summit 2016 as part of the Biohealth Capital Regional Forum in Gaithersburg, MD! 11 Apr, 2016
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on employing supramolecular assemblies for design of new-generation pharmaceutics as an invited speaker in the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of New Hampshire! 28 Mar, 2016
Dr. Keswani's contribution in support of the extensive in vivo characterization of the systemic anti-inflammatory activity of clofazimine and its biocrystals by Dr. Gi Sang Yoon was published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. (link) 22 Mar, 2016
Dr. Keswani's innovative research proposing the repositioning of Clofazimine as a Macrophage-targeting photoacoustic contrast agent has been published in Scientific Reports (pdf) (link) as well as a conference paper at SPIE Proceedings (link). This work was performed with support from Dr. Gus Rosania at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan and phenomenal collaborators at the University of Michigan Medical School - (Dr. Xueding Wang and group) & (Dr. Gandikota Girish) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. 7 Mar, 2016
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on employing supramolecular assemblies for design of new-generation pharmaceutics as an invited speaker in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Auburn University! 2 Mar, 2016
Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on employing supramolecular assemblies for design of new-generation pharmaceutics as an invited speaker in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Florida A&M University-Florida State University (FAMU-FSU)! 22 Feb, 2016 Dr. Keswani will be presenting his work on employing supramolecular assemblies for design of new-generation pharmaceutics as an invited speaker in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rowan University! 2017
16 Oct, 2017
Dr. Keswani's contribution toward understanding the physicochemical basis of how small molecule drugs can stains the human skin when taken for a prolonged duration of time was accepted for publication in the esteemed skin journal - Journal of Investigative Dermatology! The primary author is Mikhail Murashov, a graduate student in the Rosania Lab at the University of Michigan. (link) 30 Mar, 2017
The Rosania Group paper on the metabolomic reprogramming within macrophages that sequester drugs has been selected as a Feature paper for the month of April in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences! (link) 13 Jan, 2017
Dr. Keswani's contribution in support of the optical analysis of clofazimine bioaccumulation in macrophages via diattenuation and fluorescence analysis was published in Biomedical Optics Express. The primary author is Phillip Rzeczycki, a graduate student in the Rosania Lab at the University of Michigan. (link) 2018
11 Aug, 2018 Exelead, Inc was in the media spotlight through Innovations with Ed Begley Jr. with Dr. Keswani being among the scientific experts interviewed to describe the innovative aspects of development and manufacturing in the complex nanomedicinal space. The Exelead segment from 6:17 to 13:36 in the video at this link. 31 Jan, 2018 Dr. Keswani's seminal work with Dr. Woldemichael on the lysosomal homeostasis mechanisms that accompany drug bioaccumulation and drive the formation of mechanopharmaceutical materials has been published in Scientific Reports, paving the way for a novel understanding on designing intracellular particulate therapeutics! (link) |
Rahul K Keswani, PhD
LIFE SCIENTIST,