One of the earliest signs of where life would take Prabu Nambiar (Ph.D. ‘88) came over the radio. Growing up in the rural landscapes of southern India with no television or internet, the radio channel Voice of America was his only bridge to the rest of the world. It wasn’t until he earned his master’s degree that crossing that bridge became possible when a professor encouraged him to continue his education at Oregon State.
Now, 41 years after arriving in the U.S., Nambiar has founded the pharmaceutical consulting company Syner-G BioPharma Group and been honored with the College of Science’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.
“I never imagined I could do any of this coming from India as somebody who barely spoke English,” he said. “I am truly proud that the services we offer help so many startup companies to be successful by getting their drugs approved and saving a lot of lives.”
Finding success as an international student
When Nambiar moved in 1983 to become a teaching assistant and Ph.D. student at Oregon State, the difference was like night and day. Every experience was new. He quickly learned how to start from scratch and build up with the help of faculty and other international students.
Studying organic chemistry, he became close to the people within the chemistry department and still cherishes it today. He fondly remembers working with his Ph.D. advisor Professor Steven Gould and others such as Darrah Thomas, James White, Jim Krueger and Carrol DeCock.
“I'm very fortunate to have gotten my education, career track and to have started a company successfully, and I attribute a lot of that to early-on support and the training that I got while at OSU,” he said.
After graduating from Oregon State in 1988, Nambiar completed his postdoctoral training at Brown University. It was during his time there that he was faced with a decision: He could either apply for citizenship in the U.S. and continue his research career or return to his home country where he grew up. It was a difficult choice, but in the end, the same potential to grow that brought him abroad led him to stay. Looking back, he has no regrets.
With his green card secured, Nambiar finished his time at Brown and moved to New Jersey in his first leap out of academia. There he joined the company Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop cutting-edge drugs.
“You lose 100% of the shots you don’t take, so you need to have some courage. You have to trust yourself and follow your dream.”
Over the next seven years, he gradually moved away from the lab to regulatory affairs. Nambiar handled relations with the Food and Drug Administration to ensure the company’s products were up to par with all regulatory requirements. His new focus led him to work for different biopharmaceutical companies before he landed a position as vice president of regulatory affairs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in 2007.
While he could have stayed, his years in the industry showed him that there was a growing need for talented people companies could outsource to during drug development. It was the kind of niche he knew he could fill. So, he left his position to start the consulting firm Syner-G Biopharma Group.
“When I told them that I was quitting, people thought I was crazy. But I said I have to try, you know?’” he said. With two young boys in high school, it felt like a risky move. “I took the biggest risk of leaving my home country and coming all the way here. If I can do that, I should be able to do anything else. That’s what I told myself.”
Starting from scratch just as he did when he came to Oregon State, Nambiar successfully built the company into a trusted development partner that supports the creation of life-saving medicine. Since its inception, the company has grown from 50 members to about 500 as of 2024. This experience and his career as a whole have made him a big proponent of following one’s passion despite any obstacles that may arise.
“You lose 100% of the shots you don’t take, so you need to have some courage,” he said. “You have to trust yourself and follow your dream.”
Triumphing after OSU
Nambiar’s journey beyond Oregon State is marked by success. His education and life experience that began at OSU, he says, helped him to reinvent who he was and be his best self. Even with all he has accomplished after graduating, he still credits the university as his foundation and continues to give back.
He has served on the College of Science’s Board of Advisors since 2018 and promoted the College’s mission across many spheres. In honor of his thesis advisor Professor Steven Gould, he funded a student travel award in the Department of Chemistry. He also began the Nambiar Family Faculty Scholar Endowment Fund to support teaching excellence in the department, uplifting the people who supported him all those years ago.
In 2024, Nambiar brought his two sons to Corvallis and introduced them to his first home in the U.S., filled with pride and joy. Receiving the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award now over four decades since his arrival feels surreal.
“Again, I never thought these things were possible. I just did the best job that I could do,” he said. That goal to do good work has become his biggest piece of advice. “I never chased the rewards, but when I focused on important matters and worked diligently, I was rewarded. So pursue your dream, do the best you can, and then everything will follow.”
