Nicolas Thomä
My laboratory has set out to combine structural biology, cell biology and complex biochemical in vitro reconstitutions to address the molecular workings of these chromatin-bound complex assemblies. Our focus is on machines that detect and repair mutations in the DNA, and those that make possible the accurate passage of epigenetic information to the daughter generation.
Yusuke Tominari
Yusuke Tominari is responsible for the overall success of a business entity or other organization and for making top-level managerial decisions as a CEO. He launched FIMECS with his colleagues in 2018 as a curve-out biotech from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. He started his career of a medicinal chemist at Takeda in 2006 after getting a Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo in Japan. His expertise is medicinal chemistry in immunology, oncology and immuno-oncology areas, Natural product synthesis and Chemical biology (Bifunctional molecules, Photo-affinity labeling probes, Cleavable linkers and others). Through his thirteen years of the pharmaceutical experience, he has contributed 2 out-licensing and 1 IND filing as a leader of medicinal chemistry. He is currently having a big challenge, “Drugging Undruggable Targets” by the targeted protein degradation technology with a proprietary RaPPIDS platform.
Rajesh Chopra
Professor Rajesh Chopra is Director of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit and Head of the Division of Cancer Therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. He has had experience of working both in academia and industry having been Director of Hematological Oncology, Christie Hospital in Manchester and subsequently in the Oncology Therapeutic area at AstraZeneca.
From 2009-2016, he was leader of the Executive R&D Team and Corporate Vice President of Translational and Early Drug Development at Celgene Corporation, Summit, NJ, where he led a team of over 100 scientists in San Diego, San Francisco and Seville. There he was involved in a large number of drug discovery and development projects and part of a team that helped to define the mechanism of action of Thalidomide and its analogues. In addition, Raj was also involved in the New Drug Applications for pomalidomide (a second generation IMiD agent) and apremilast (a PDE4 inhibitor). Both drugs were approved in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
Pearlie Epling-Burnette
I am a Senior Member and Professor at the Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL. As a member of the Immunology Program, I have made several leading observations on immune deregulations in the setting of bone marrow failure, hematological malignancies, and solid tumors. In addition to collaborations with physician scientist to assist with investigator-initiated clinical trials, I have conducted research studies with collaborators focused on Cancer Prevention and Control to uncover the epidemiology of cancer. My research focuses on drug discovery for the design of new therapeutics, and pathology to improve diagnostic testing for personalized treatment matching. My laboratory research efforts are focused on understanding how to potentiate anti-tumor cytotoxic T cells that have the potential to eliminate tumors. Specifically, I have been evaluating the ability of a class of immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) to activate anti-tumor cytotoxic T cells in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes and other cancers. This research as led to the discovery that cereblon (an E3-ubiquitin ligase substrate receptor) is involved in blocking anti-tumor T cell activation. The ultimate goal is to realize the potential of immunotherapy for patients with hematologic malignancies and other forms of cancer.
Success in the lab builds excitement, but always leads to more questions. I feel that research it is a never-ending quest for truth. I first received my Doctorate in Pharmacy before obtaining a PhD. I think this stimulated my interest in drug discovery research. After 25 tireless years of research in the field of immunology, I think we are finally hitting our stride.
Phil Chamberlain
Nan Ji
Nan Ji, Ph.D., is Executive Director and Head of Chemistry at Kymera Therapeutics. Nan has more than 10 years of drug discovery experience. Before Kymera, he spent 2 years at Mitobridge (now part of Astellas), where he was responsible for its NAD+-boosting portfolio with multiple approaches to modulate mitochondrial functions. Prior to that, Nan spent 7+ years at Novartis, where he contributed to and delivered multiple clinical and preclinical development candidates. Nan obtained his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with Prof. Andy Myers and conducted his postdoc with Prof. Eric Jacobsen at Harvard University.
Seth Margolis
Dr. Margolis received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY). In 1999, he joined graduate school at Duke University Medical Center (Durham, North Carolina) in the department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. There, Dr. Margolis completed a doctoral thesis with Dr. Sally Kornbluth focusing on molecular mechanisms of DNA-responsive cell cycle checkpoints using the frog Xenopus egg extract system. Following completion of a Ph.D., in 2006 Dr. Margolis joined the laboratory of Dr. Michael Greenberg in the department of Neurobiology at Harvard University (Boston, Massachusetts). During a postdoctoral tenure with the guidance and support of Dr. Greenberg, Dr. Margolis focused his efforts on the molecular pathways that regulate excitatory synapse formation and investigating their relevance to the pathophysiology of the cognitive disorder Angelman Syndrome. In September 2011, Dr. Margolis joined the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor. The vast majority of Dr. Margolis work is centered on understanding how molecular mechanisms that restrict synapses during development are reactivated in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease. To this end, Dr. Margolis and his group use genetically engineered mouse models of disease and a multidisciplinary approach that combines aspect of molecular biology, biochemistry and in vivo synapse imaging in order to develop hypothesis about the underlying cause of synapse degeneration and cognitive decline. They then use genetic rescue or stereotactic approaches to target distinct pathways followed by a wide range of behavioral tasks to assay cognitive function and tests their hypotheses. More recently, Dr. Margolis has developed a new direction focused on cellular protein homeostasis mechanisms related to protein degradation and their impact on changes in the function and physiology of the nervous system. Using a wide range of classic biochemical purification approaches, Dr. Margolis and his team have identified novel proteasome mediated pathways in the nervous system and are just beginning to understand their relevance to health and disease.