Bhavya Sharma, RPh, PhD

PhD, University of Delhi, India

Dr. Sharma worked as a research scientist in the field of immunology for a decade after completing her PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Delhi, India. Her thesis research was focused on allergy immunotherapy and concluded that encapsulating mite allergens in liposomes reduces the allergenicity, as measured by reduced IgE responses, by cytokines modulation toward TH1 pathways resulting in increased immunogenicity.

Dr. Sharma received post-doctoral training at the Institute of Immunology, University of Kiel, Germany, for three years before joining the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in San Diego, California, in 1999. There, she worked on the role of galectins in the regulation of IgE by studying signal transduction pathways in bone-marrow-derived mast cells of mice deficient in the galectin-3 gene. In 2001, Dr. Sharma moved to the biotech industry, where she utilized hybridoma technology and successfully generated humanized monoclonal antibodies against colon cancer antigens.

From 2006–2018, Dr. Sharma practiced as a licensed pharmacist in various pharmacy settings in California. She gained extensive experience in United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards for compounding, DEA regulations of controlled substances, and cGMP regulations while managing an FDA-registered outsourcing compounding facility in San Diego as the director of operations. She was quickly recognized with the company’s Core Value Award for various contributions in building a high-performing team, maintaining high standards of compounding operations, and expanding the business to provide compounded sterile preparations to hundreds of hospitals.

In 2018, Dr. Sharma moved to Maryland and began working as a compounding consultant at USP headquarters. She developed training materials on sterile and nonsterile compounding standards and coordinated annual live training events for USP <795>, USP <797>, and USP <800> standards in 2019.

She considers herself fortunate to have joined the NIH Clinical Center in 2019, the world’s largest clinical research hospital, which provides the perfect environment to apply her multifaceted skills and experience in research, pharmaceutical compounding, administration, and team management.

Role of galectin-3 in mast cell functions: galectin-3-deficient mast cells exhibit impaired mediator release and defective JNK expression. Chen HY, Sharma BB, Yu L, Zuberi R, Weng IC, Kawakami Y, Kawakami T, Hsu DK, Liu FT. J Immunol. 2006 Oct 15; 177(8):4991-7.

Recombinant dimeric MHC antigens protect cardiac allografts from rejection and visualize alloreactive T cells. Fried A1, Berg M, Sharma B, Bonde S, Zavazava N. J Leukoc Biol. 2005 Sep; 78(3):595-604.

Critical role of galectin-3 in phagocytosis by macrophages. Sano H, Hsu DK, Apgar JR, Yu L, Sharma BB, Kuwabara I, Izui S, Liu FT. J Clin Invest. 2003 Aug; 112(3):38997.

Monoclonal antibodies against the C (epsilon) mX domain of human membranebound IgE and their potential use for targeting IgE-expressing B cells. Chen HY, Liu FT, Hou CM, Huang JS, Sharma BB, Chang TW. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2002 Aug; 128(4):315-24.

Mast cells. Receptors, secretagogues, and signaling. Sharma BB, Apgar JR, Liu FT. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2002 Apr; 22(2):119-48. Review.

Bypassing hybridoma technology: HLA-C reactive human single-chain antibody fragments (scFv) derived from a synthetic phage display library (HuCAL) and their potential to discriminate HLA class I specificities. Marget M1, Sharma BB, Tesar M, Kretzschmar T, Jenisch S, Westphal E, Davarnia P, Weiss E, Ulbrecht M, Kabelitz D, Krönke M. Tissue Antigens. 2000; 56(1):1-9.

Topical liposome system bearing local anesthetic lidocaine: preparation and evaluation. Sharma BB, Jain SK, Vyas SP. J Microencapsul. 1994 May-Jun; 11(3):279-86.

Simultaneous determination of ibuprofen and paracetamol by HPLC. Shakya AK, Singhai A, Sharma BB. The Eastern Pharmacist 1992 Dec; Vol. XXXV.