His research focuses on the design and development of innovative long-acting drug delivery systems, with a particular interest in reducing the burden of frequent intravitreal injections for chronic retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. He leads The GODDs Lab (Great Ocular Drug Delivery Science Lab), one of the foremost ocular drug delivery research groups globally, and has supervised over 20+ PhD students and 25+ postdoctoral researchers.

Professor Raj Thakur has been Principal Investigator on projects worth several millions in funding, supported by UKRI, the EU, Invest Northern Ireland, venture capital, and pharmaceutical industry partners. He has authored over 200+ peer-reviewed publications, five books, and holds seven patents on sustained-release and implantable delivery platforms. He serves on the Editorial Board of Ophthalmic Drug Delivery and Frontiers in Drug Delivery and is an Associate Editor for Drug Delivery and Translational Research (DDTR). He is a regular invited speaker at national and international conferences.

In addition to his academic leadership, Professor Thakur is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Re-Vana Therapeutics, a Queen’s University spinout company pioneering long-acting ocular drug delivery technologies. Under his scientific leadership, Re-Vana has raised significant Seed, pre-Series A and Series A funding and recently entered a landmark strategic collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim valued at over $1 billion in potential milestones, to co-develop sustained-release therapies targeting chronic retinal diseases.