Dr. Premalatha “Prema” Balachandran

Dr. Premalatha “Prema” Balachandran joined Ole Miss, 21 years ago in 2002 and serve as a Principal Scientist at the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), School of Pharmacy. As a Principal Scientist, Dr. Prema’s research expertise include biological screening and the discovery and development of new active drugs from the plants that contribute to human health benefits. She works on several funded projects and her research team filed a patent on an anticancer formulation. She has authored 40+ publications that include research and review articles in high-impact journals and book chapters.

As a Adjunct Instructor, her teaching interest include biomedical entrepreneurship combining her 30+ years of biomedical experience and entrepreneurship skills through product discovery and development. In addition, she is an executive board member for UM Staff Council and serves as a Staff Textbook Scholarship Manager. She is also a member of several Chancellor’s Standing committees and also a commissioner for Chancellor’s Commission for Women. She is very active in the community, serving on several boards and committees including United Way, Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Lafayette, School District PTOs, and Boy Scout committees to name a few. She also serves as a judge/chair for several international and regional science fair competitions and a reviewer for many journals. Her active role in the university and the community earned her several awards including Outstanding Staff Member award, Allgernon Sydney Sullivan Award for Community Service and Engagement and Women of Distinction recognition.

Dr. Prema received a B.S in Chemistry from the University of Madras, Chennai, India. She also obtained M.S. and Ph.D. in Medical Biochemistry from the same university. In 2022, she graduated MBA from the University of Mississippi with an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award. She is married to Karthikeyan Rathinavelu, Owner and President of Thik and Thin Constructions LLC., They have 2 boys, Keerthin, valedictorian from Oxford High, class of 2023 and joined Ole Miss Honor’s college and Sagan, 7th grader at Oxford Middle School. (Updated August 2023)