Case Summary:

The O1-A or Individual of Extraordinary Ability is for those individuals who possess extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who have a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and have been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements. So when a formulation investigator in pharmaceutical technology came to us from Pakistan, we ensured the success of her case by making a list of her strong points. The following is the list of items we gathered from her CVs, certificates, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc.:

• As an expert in the field of pharmaceutical technology, her proposed endeavor is to continue developing techniques for programmed site-specific drug delivery and stimuli-responsive nanoparticulate drug formulations. She wants to improve the treatment of cancer, lung disease, and antimicrobial-resistant infectious diseases.
• Her research is of great importance because it provides the field with targeted strategies for treating cancer, lung disease, and antimicrobial-resistant infectious diseases. This is particularly important considering the immense threat that drug resistance poses to global health. It leads to prolonged illnesses, which elongate hospital stays, increase death and disability, and exacerbate medical expenses.
• More specifically, her proposed endeavor also has broad implications for the United States. Of the many diseases she has helped to improve the treatment of, is cancer, which has an immense societal and economic impact in the U.S.
• At the same time, her work has gained popularity due to which she has been regularly invited to conduct peer reviews for authoritative journals in the field, and has completed at least 30 reviews to date.
• Her research has resulted in 66 peer-reviewed journal articles (5 of them first-authored) and 3 book chapters (1 of them first-authored) which have been cited a huge total of 1,842 times according to Google Scholar, thereby demonstrating that these publications are widely recognized and relied upon in the field of pharmaceutical technology.
• She has thus authored at least 15 papers that rank among the top 10% most-cited articles across the entire field of pharmacology & toxicology for their respective years of publication.
• Finally, her study was funded by the European Commission’s ALEXANDER Project, which sponsors the research and development of MPP drug systems, and she was also the recipient of a prestigious international award for women in science.
• Her 11 years of work have given her a hold over the area and she has gathered supporters from all over the world. She was able to obtain 4 letters of recommendation from experts who knew her work and one of them said:

“[The client’s] research has resulted in mucus-penetrating drugs with higher levels of mucoadhesiveness, addressing this common shortcoming and helping the United States to maintain its dominance in the biopharmaceutical industry. In sum, based on her myriad successes thus far, it is my professional opinion that the United States would be remiss if it did not provide [the client] with a platform for her future work.”

So, her O1-A case was approved without an RFE, thanks to our team of excellent experts who prepared her petition packet.