About me
For more than two decades Dr. Budhwani has combined his passion for innovation, socioeconomic development, and scientific discoveries to shape the impact of innovation and new knowledge (INK) in advancing the economy and the broader human society.
He co-founded CerFlux, Inc. in 2018 to use advances in micro and nanomedicine to #CrushCancer. In addition to being CEO of CerFlux and elixir international, Dr. Budhwani serves as Visiting Scientist in the Dept. of Physics at Coe College and in the School of Medicine at UAB. He is a Venture Partner at FundRx, Director of Vision and Strategy at TruSpin, and Ambassador at the Center for Advancing Innovation. He has also served as Ambassador of Trade for the State of Alabama and as Chairman of the Ismail Professionals Network (IPN) which spans over 20 countries on 5 continents. He is well published in business journals and blogs and in peer-reviewed journals. His scientific research is well funded including prestigious grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Budhwani also served in various capacities to combat COVID-19 including addressing broader socioeconomic impact of the pandemic, attenuating pandemic induced supply shocks with locally sourced materials and engineering capacity, realigning COVID-19 testing along population density, developing and instituting strategies for reopening schools safely, and also an inverted approach to economic stimulus packages that saves lives, livelihoods, and quality of life. Yes, he is working to crush both cancer and COVID-19.
He has won numerous awards and honors including Business Journals CEO of the Year (2016) and Healthcare Hero (2020), EDPA Alabama Innovation Award (2018), Birmingham B-Metro A-List (2017), and Servant Leadership Vulcan Spear (2020) recognizing those who “like Vulcan, stood for the community by serving others.” Among his most cherished honors is the title of #CancerKiller bestowed upon him by friends of his 8-year-old sons.
He received his BA in Computer Science, Economics, and Business Administration from Coe College, IA (1993), MS in Biomedical Engineering from UAB (2015), and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Nanomedicine) from UAB in 2018. For decades of leadership in advancing innovation, excellence, service, and his vision for integrating STEM with the liberal Arts (STEM+A = STEAM) in undergirding the new knowledge society, Coe College invited him to deliver the commencement address and conferred upon him an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Liberal Arts (DLA), in 2018.
Educated in true liberal arts tradition, Dr. Budhwani knows everything about nothing and nothing about everything; a 21st-century polymath. Jokes aside, he has always maintained that the two-fold purpose of acquiring knowledge is to better understand the fabric of existence and to serve others. This principle is his driving force for not only creating new knowledge but also developing and commercializing new paradigms in cancer disease modeling, drug discovery, and personalized medicine applications.