Leadership
From its inception, Kazmira has been led by Mr. Pulak Sharma and Dr. Priyanka Sharma. As co-CEOs, they have had the unique ability to share the leadership load required for a young company such as Kazmira to become the world’s leading CBD manufacturer and wholesaler. Their backgrounds in oil, gas, and pharmaceuticals have given them a unique perspective on the CBD industry. They understand CBD’s future both as a nutraceutical and pharmaceutical.
Dr. Priyanka Sharma
Co-CEO
DR. Priyanka Sharma is co-CEO of Kazmira LLC, a manufacturing company which focuses on the large-scale production of botanical extracts from industrial hemp. Together, Dr. Sharma and her co-CEO Mr. Sharma, manage a team of engineers and scientists at their 200,000 sq.ft. facility in Watkins, CO. Prior to her role at Kazmira LLC, Dr. Sharma completed her doctorate in chemical engineering under the supervision of Dr. Sohail Murad at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During this time, Dr. Sharma published three journal articles, one review article, and one book chapter all focusing on her work in molecular modeling of functionalized gold nanoparticles with various ligands and their behavior in biological systems. Towards the end of her graduate degree, Dr. Sharma worked closely with Orochem Technologies, Inc. to secure an SBIR (small business innovation research) grant from the National Science Foundation focusing on developing a predictive model to understand chiral separations of orphan drugs. Even after completing her graduate studies, she continues to be passionate about the use of molecular modeling in industrial applications in the biotechnology field. Dr. Sharma maintains her role as an adjunct scientist at Orochem Technologies, Inc. while managing Kazmira LLC and mentoring other post-docs and undergraduate students involved in the SBIR program. At Kazmira LLC, Dr. Sharma is enthusiastic towards mentoring young engineers and operators and building a strong manufacturing team. For Dr. Sharma, a strong team is the foundation of a successful manufacturing company, one that she hopes to replicate around the world to provide international markets with botanical extracts from industrial hemp. Dr. Sharma has a bachelors in Chemical Engineering & a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, both from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Mr. Pulak Sharma
Co-CEO
MR. Pulak Sharma is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Kazmira. He is a Cannabinoid Maverick and Champion for Industrial Hemp. Pulak leads the company in it’s infinite goal to enable greater access to Industrial Hemp derived Cannabinoids through deep science, policy and education. Pulak is a frequent speaker on Industrial Hemp and Cannabinoid topics at events and key forums across the USA. As an industry stakeholder, he has spoken at the Scientific Data about Products Containing Cannabis hearing with the FDA as well as industry stakeholder summit on Cannabis with Cowen Research. He was instrumental in showcasing the potential of Cannabinoids to Perrigo and Perrigo’s subsequent investment in Kazmira. Pulak holds an MBA from Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University.
