Dr. Prakash Nagarkatti currently serves as the Senior Research Advisor to the President of the University of South Carolina (USC) and Carolina Distinguished Professor.  In this capacity, he represents USC on Battelle Savannah River Alliance that manages $3.8 Billion contract from the Department of Energy in the operation of Savannah River National Lab. From 2011-2021, he served as the Vice President for Research at USC managing $280 million research enterprise.  Currently, he also serves as the Director of the NIH-funded CAM Center for Epigenetic Regulation of Inflammation, and the Director of the NIH COBRE Center for Dietary Supplements and Inflammation. He also serves as Director of NSF EPSCoR Track-1. Dr. Nagarkatti has published over 325 scientific papers, and has mentored over 44 graduate students, 20 URM scholars, 29 PDFs, 35 junior faculty and 36 International Scholars. He has chaired numerous NIH Study Sections.  Dr. Nagarkatti currently serves as the Chair of the National EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation Board.  He is a Fellow of AAAS, Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, and Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He received the Vos Lifetime Career Achievement Award, and Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award from the Society of Toxicology.  He is active in communicating science to the public, through The Conversation, BBC News, PBS documentary, and USA TODAY COVID Vaccine Panel.  He has testified on numerous occasions at the SC State legislature on Medical Cannabis Bill.  He is a strong proponent of Geographic Diversity in Federal Research funding and STEM education.