Managing the Drug Discovery Process

Dr. Walter H. Moos retired as President of SRI Biosciences in early 2016 after more than a decade at the independent nonprofit SRI International (Stanford Research Institute), which he joined in 2005 as Vice President and Biosciences Division Head. He also managed corporate Information Technology Services at SRI from 2011-2014. Moos and his teams have made significant contributions to all phases of R&D, from early stage research on therapeutics and diagnostics to marketed pharmaceutical products. Prior to SRI he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MitoKor (Migenix) and a Vice President at Chiron (Novartis) and Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis (Pfizer). His teams have advanced many drugs and biologics from bench to bedside, supported by Alta Partners, the Gates Foundation, NIH, Pfizer, and others. He has served on about 20 business and scientific boards, not-for-profit and for-profit, including the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the Critical Path Institute, Keystone Symposia, Oncologic (Aduro), Onyx (Amgen), and Rigel. He has advised and served as a committee member for academic, government, and investor groups, including the University of Michigan, the National Academy of Sciences, and Red Abbey Venture Partners. He has founded several scientific journals, authored or edited 6 books, and has over 160 patents and publications. Moos has held faculty positions at major universities and has been an adjunct Professor at the University of California San Francisco since 1992. He holds Ph.D. and A.B. degrees in chemistry from the University of California Berkeley and Harvard University, respectively.

SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA and University of California–San Francisco, CA, USA

Dr. Susan Miller is a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research focus and expertise is in the areas of chemical biology and medicinal chemistry. Her team uses a variety of biochemical and biophysical tools to investigate protein structure/function questions spanning the range of elucidating novel aspects of catalysis in individual enzymes to understanding the interactions of proteins within a pathway and how mutations influence flux through the pathway. Their current work is focused on understanding how key enzymes and transport proteins of bacterial mercury detoxification pathways work individually, with each other, and with other host cell proteins to rapidly remove the toxic threat of organomercurials (such as Methyl-Hg) and mercuric ions from their environment.

Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Fransisco, CA, USA

Stephen Munk, Ph.D. is the CEO and President of Ash Stevens Inc., a full service Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) development and manufacturing contractor. Dr. Munk earned his Ph.D. in organic synthesis at The University of California at Berkeley under the supervision of Henry Rapoport and subsequently completed an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship with Dale Boger at Purdue conducting studies in drug design and molecular biology. He is experienced in drug discovery, development, and manufacturing both as a scientist and as a manager. Prior to joining Ash Stevens in 1997, he worked at Allergan, Inc. initially as a medicinal chemist and subsequently, the co-team leader of the adrenergic drug discovery team responsible for the commercialization the glaucoma treatment Alphagan®. Under his leadership, Ash Stevens has received twelve FDA approvals to manufacture innovator drug substances. These approvals include the oncology drugs bortezomib (Velcade®), busulfan (Busulfex®), clofarabine (Clolar®), and 5-azacitidine (Vidaza®), ponatinib (Iclusig®) and ixazomib (Ninlaro®). Ash Stevens has won six NIH research contacts under his leadership including four competing renewals.

Dr. Munk’s work has been summarized in a number of publications and patents; a book chapter in “Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry II” (Elsevier Ltd.), as well as presentations at Scientific Conferences and Universities. Dr. Munk serves as an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Wayne State University and on the Henry Ford Community College Biotechnology Advisory Board. He served on the Steering Committee of the Chemistry in Cancer Research Working Group of the American Association for Cancer Research (CICR-AACR; 2008-2010; 2011-2013; Chair, 2014), the Board of Directors of MichBio (2008 - 2014; Chairman 2010 - 2014). He also serves on various grant review committees for the Federal Government.

President and CEO, Ash Stevens Inc., Riverview, MI, USA

Barbara H. Munk is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Chemistry Department at Wayne State University where she is responsible for teaching classes in various areas of chemistry to undergraduate chemistry majors and students in the preparatory programs for health care professions. Barbara also serves as Chair of the Chemistry Department Safety Committee and is responsible for coordinating communications between various University departments to in order to comply with current regulations and help ensure a safe environment for undergraduate teaching and graduate student research laboratories. Prior to joining the faculty at Wayne State University, Barbara has worked as a research chemist and as a manager with a diverse set of industrial companies including Warner-Lambert/Pfizer, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, the Clorox Company, Great Lakes Chemical Corporation, the Stepan Company, and Port Systems, LLC (a start-up company in Ann Arbor, MI). During her 25 years in industry, she has been involved in research and development activities from phase I through phase III and the ultimate filing of New Drug Applications. While at the University of California at Irvine, Barbara was involved with the development of UC-ACCESS, an early online system designed to help academic scientists find industrial partners with whom to develop emerging technologies. Her chemical research efforts are summarized in 13 publications and patents. She has also co-edited a laboratory manual for undergraduate general chemistry. Barbara holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wayne State University, a M.S. in Management from Purdue University and a B.S. in Chemistry from Arizona State University.

Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA