Scientific Advisory Board

Jonathan A. Ellman, Ph.D.

Jonathan Ellman earned his B.S. degree from MIT in 1984 and his Ph.D. degree at Harvard University in 1989 working under the direction of Professor David Evans. He carried out postdoctoral research with Professor Peter Schultz at the University of California at Berkeley, and in 1992 he was appointed to the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley where he is currently Professor of Chemistry. He also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California at San Francisco.

Ellman’s research emphasizes the development of practical and general synthetic methods and their application to the synthesis of pharmaceutical agents and bioactive natural products. He is recognized for the design and implementation of broadly useful methods for asymmetric amine synthesis and for C-H bond functionalization. His laboratory is also actively engaged in the development of chemical tools to study enzymes, including extensively used methods for small molecule library synthesis and protease substrate profiling. Most recently, he has developed a substrate-based fragment identification and optimization approach for the discovery of pharmacologically active small molecule inhibitors of enzymes.

He has received a number of awards, including a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Hitchings Award for Drug Design and Discovery (1993), a Sloan Foundation Fellowship (1994), an Eli Lilly Grantee Award (1994), a Burroughs Wellcome Fund New Initiatives in Malaria Research Award (1998), an American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2000), a Society of Biomolecular Screening Achievement Award (2003), a Scheele Award selected by the Swedish Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2003), and a Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award (2006). Professor Ellman is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2006), and he currently serves on the editorial advisory boards of a number of journals, including the Board of Editors of Organic Syntheses, and the advisory boards for Chemistry & Biology, Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, and Chemical Biology & Drug Design. He has served on the scientific advisory boards of Argonaut, Symyx and Versicor, was co-Founder of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, currently serves on the scientific advisory Board of Ardelyx, Inc., and is a consultant for a number of pharmaceuticals companies.

James L.M. Ferrara, M.D.

Dr. James Ferrara obtained his M.D. from Georgetown University in 1980. He completed his internship and residency in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and then completed his fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Children’s and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). He joined the Harvard Medical School Faculty in 1987 and remained at there until 1998 when he joined the University of Michigan Cancer Center as Director of the Combined Adult and Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program. Dr. Ferrara’s laboratory investigates the immunobiology of BMT and graft versus host disease; for which he is internationally recognized. His basic research program explores the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cellular immunotherapy and serves as a translational research platform for novel therapeutic strategies for patients with hematologic malignancies.

Dr. Ferrara serves on numerous national boards and committees, most notably as chairman of the steering committee of the national BMT Clinical Trials Network. He has also served as scientific advisor to the National Institutes of Health; the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation; the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; Amgen; and Therakos. He frequently gives plenary and keynote presentations at national and international meetings.

Dr. Ferrara has published numerous papers in leading scientific journals, including:  The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, and The Journal of Clinical Investigation. His scientific contributions have been recognized with several major awards, including the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, the Leukemia Society of America’s Stohlman Scholar Award, the Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize from the German Republic, and the University of Michigan Outstanding Clinician Award.

Douglas Green, Ph.D.

Douglas Green received his Ph.D. in Biology and Immunology from Yale University in 1981. Following postdoctoral training in experimental surgery and marine biology, he received a faculty position in the Department of Immunology, University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1985. In 1990 he became the Head of the Division of Cellular Immunology at La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in San Diego, CA. Since 2005 he has been Chair of Immunology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, where he holds the Peter Doherty Chair. Doug Green is an ISI Highly Cited Investigator and has published over 380 research papers, reviews, chapters, and books. His research focuses on the central mechanisms of apoptosis in cancer and the immune system.

Dan Littman, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Littman is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and also Professor of Pathology and Microbiology at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine of New York University School of Medicine. Following undergraduate studies on the structure of microtubules in Marc Kirschner’s laboratory at Princeton University, he completed the M.D./Ph.D. program at Washington University in St. Louis, working with Benjamin Schwartz and Susan Cullen on the function of histocompatibility molecules in antigen presentation. His postdoctoral research was done in Richard Axel’s laboratory at Columbia University, where he isolated the genes for CD4 and CD8. Before moving to NYU in 1995, Dr. Littman was Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Littman has studied signaling pathways involved in T lymphocyte development, migration, and activation and in lymphoid organogenesis, as well as the mechanism of HIV infection and pathogenesis. His group has applied mouse genetic approaches towards gaining insights into each of these areas. His contributions have led to new small molecule therapeutic approaches targeting the entry of HIV into cells and the differentiation of inflammatory T cells involved in autoimmune diseases. Dr. Littman is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the 2004 New York City Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science and Technology.

David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D.

David J. Mangelsdorf received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry, summa cum laude, in 1981 from Northern Arizona University, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1987 from the University of Arizona. After completing postdoctoral studies at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1993, he began his independent career at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, where he currently is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He also holds the Beatrice and Miguel Elias Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science. His work has been honored with several awards, including the John J. Abel Award from the American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, the Heinrich-Wieland Preis for Lipid Research, the Adolf Windaus Prize for Bile Acid Research from the Falk Foundation, and the Richard E. Weitzman and Gerald D. Aurbach Awards from The Endocrine Society. In 2008 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Mangelsdorf’s long-time interests have focused on the study of nuclear receptors, a family of ligand-dependent transcription factors. His research has revealed the existence of novel ligands and physiologic functions for several of these receptors, including a group of orphan receptors that governs nutrient metabolism and is now a therapeutic target for metabolic diseases.

Michael A. Marletta, Ph.D.

Michael A. Marletta was born in Rochester New York on February 12, 1951.  After an A.B. degree in biology and chemistry from SUNY, College at Fredonia in 1973, he entered the graduate program in pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco.  After a two year postdoctoral fellowship at M.I.T., with Prof. Christopher Walsh, Dr. Marletta joined the faculty at M.I.T. as an Assistant Professor of Toxicology in the Department of Applied Biological Sciences.  He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1986.  In 1987 he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan as Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and in 1989 Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry in the Medical School.  In 1991 he was promoted to Professor in both departments and appointed the John G. Searle Professor of Medicinal Chemistry.  In 1997 he became an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Marletta moved to the University of California, Berkeley in 2001 where he assumed the positions of Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.  He also holds an appointment as Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF and Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.  He was appointed the Aldo DeBenedictis Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in 2002. On 1 July 2005, he became Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Berkeley.

Marletta’s primary research interests lie at the interface of chemistry and biology with emphasis on the study of protein function and enzyme reaction mechanisms.  MarIetta has made fundamental discoveries concerning the biological action of nitric oxide.  His studies have provided the basis for understanding at the molecular level of this unique cell signaling pathway and the function of nitric oxide in the immune system.  He has uncovered several novel structure/function relationships in nitric oxide synthase and guanylate cyclase.  His continued studies on NO signaling have recent led to a molecular understanding of general gas sensing mechanisms in biology.

Awards he has received include the George H. Hitchings Award for Innovative Methods in Drug Discovery and Design (1991) sponsored by the Burroughs Welcome Fund and a Faculty Recognition Award from the University of Michigan (1992).  He was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from SUNY Fredonia in 1993.  In 1995 he received a MacArthur Fellowship awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He was elected Senior Fellow in the Michigan Society of Fellows and elected to the SUNY Honor Role in 1996.  He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1999.  He was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Award in Biomedical Research by the University of Michigan Medical School for 2000 and honored as the Michigan Scientist of the Year (2000) by the Impression 5 Science Museum.  Also in 2000 he selected for Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award at the University of Michigan.  In 2001 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  In 2004 he was the recipient the Harrison Howe Award of the American Chemical Society.  He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006.  He serves as a consultant for a number of pharmaceutical companies and has served on the scientific advisory boards of NitroMed, Inc. and Oxon Medica, Inc.  He is a member of the Fredonia College Foundation Board of Directors.

John McCall, Ph.D.

John is a senior consultant with PharMac LLC. He began his career as a medicinal chemist with Upjohn and has subsequently held positions with Pharmacia and Upjohn and with Pharmacia before joining Pfizer. John was global head of chemistry for both Pharmacia and Pharmacia & Upjohn. Prior to this, he was head of Upjohn’s CNS unit. John is currently chairing a NINDS development team, serving on eight scientific advisory boards, consulting, participating as a NIH study section member in addition to his responsibilities with Lycera. John holds 53 US patents and has over 60-refereed publications

Ruslan Medzhitov, Ph.D.

Dr. Ruslan Medzhitov is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and also the David W. Wallace Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University School of Medicine. Following undergraduate studies at Tashkent State University, he obtained his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from Moscow State University in 1993. His postdoctoral training was with the late Dr. Charles A. Janeway Jr. at Yale University School of Medicine from 1994 to 1999. In 1997 he identified a human homologue of Drosophila Toll (now known as TLR4). He since contributed to the characterization of the mammalian TLR family. Currently, his research focuses on the analysis of innate immune system, inflammatory response, innate control of the adaptive immunity, and host-pathogen interactions.

Dr. Medzhitov’s scientific contributions have been recognized with several awards, including the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology from the Cancer Research Institute, A Master of Arts Privatum at Yale University, The Emil von Behring Award, AAI –BD Biosciences Investigator Award, A Doctor Honoris Causae at the University of Munich, the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists from the New York Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Howard Taylor Ricketts Award from the University of Chicago. In 2000, he was selected as a Searle Scholar.

Anthony William Opipari, Jr., M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Opipari, co-founder of Lycera,  obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Michigan and is currently an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School.  His appointment is within the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, he is on staff as an attending physician at the University of Michigan Hospitals, and is a member of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

His clinical efforts are concentrated in the areas of lower genital tract diseases related to human papilloma virus infection, colposcopy, and the management of immune-mediated lower genital tract diseases. His laboratory research involves studies of cell signaling and metabolic control that are important for cell death and immune responses.  His present research includes studies to characterize novel compounds for their anti-neoplastic activity against cancer and to understand their potential to regulate critical signaling and metabolic functions.

Among the awards and honors Dr. Opipari has received include the Alpha Omega Alpha from the University of Michigan, Alpha Chapter, the Pathologist in Training Award from the American Association of Pathologists Annual Meeting and the Geriatric Research Scholarship from the Hartford Foundation.  Dr. Opipari has peer reviewed publications, manuscripts and book chapters to his credit and holds several patents related to small molecules, screening strategies and therapeutic applications.

William R. Roush, Ph.D.

Dr. William R. Roush, a native of Chula Vista, California, received the Bachelors Degree in Chemistry, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1974, and the Ph. D. Degree in Chemistry from Harvard University in 1977 under the direction of Professor R. B. Woodward.  After an additional year as a postdoctoral associate in Professor Woodwards laboratory, he joined the faculty of the M.I.T. as an Assistant Professor.  He moved to Indiana University in 1987, and was promoted to the rank of Professor in 1989 and Distinguished Professor in 1995.  In 1997 he moved to the University of Michigan as the Warner Lambert/Parke Davis Professor of Chemistry.  He served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, from 2002-2004.  He moved to the new Scripps Research Institute in Palm Beach, Florida, as Executive Director of Medicinal Chemistry, Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean of the Kellog Graduate School in 2005.

Dr. Roush’s research interests focus on the stereocontrolled synthesis of stereochemically complex natural products, and on the design and development of new reactions and synthetic methods.  He is known for his stereochemical studies and synthetic applications of the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction and his work in the area of asymmetric and acyclic diastereoselective synthesis.  He has also made notable contributions on the design and synthesis of inhibitors of cysteine proteases isolated from important human pathogens.

Dr. Roush has been a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, an Eli Lilly Grantee, and the holder of the Roger and Georges Firmenich Career Development Chair in Natural Products Chemistry at M.I.T. He received a Merck Faculty Development Award in 1981, the 1992 Alan R. Day Award of the Philadelphia Organic Chemists’s Club, the 1994 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award of the American Chemical Society, and the 1996 American Chemical Society Akron Section Award.  In 1998 he received a Merit Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and in 1999 he received a Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award from the University of Michigan.  In 2002 he received thePaul G. Gassmann Distinguished Service Award of the American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry. Most recently, Dr. Roush has been named the recipient of the American Chemical Society 2004 Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products.

Dr. Roush has served terms as Secretary-Treasurer and Chairman of the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry, and as Chairman of the NIH Medicinal Chemistry Study Section.  He currently is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and also serves on the Editorial Boards of Organic Reactions, Organic Syntheses, and Organic Letters.  He is a consultant for several companies including Eli Lilly and Pfizer.

Michael E. Weinblatt, M.D.

Michael E. Weinblatt, MD, Co-director of Clinical Rheumatology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the John R. and Eileen K. Riedman Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

His major research interest is in therapeutics for rheumatoid arthritis. His work on the development of methotrexate therapy for rheumatoid arthritis garnered him the Carol Nachman Prize for Rheumatology and the Arthritis Foundation Virginia P. Engalitcheff Award for Impact on Quality of Life. He also received the American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award. Dr. Weinblatt is the author of The Arthritis Action Program: An Integrated Plan of Traditional and Complementary Therapies and has authored or co-authored more than 160 published papers, reviews, and book chapters on rheumatology. He is the co-editor of the textbook Rheumatology and currently sits on multiple editorial boards for journals including Journal of Rheumatology. Dr. Weinblatt was a member of the Rheumatology Subspecialty Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine and served as the President of the American College of Rheumatology in 2001.

Arthur Weiss, M.D. Ph.D.

Dr. Weiss is the Ephraim P. Engleman Distinguished Professor and Chief of the Division of Rheumatology in the Department of Medicine and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UCSF. Dr. Weiss received his B.A. at the Johns Hopkins University where he did research on mobility of cell surface molecules on the plasma membrane. He received his MD (1979) and PhD (1978; Immunology) at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. At the U. of Chicago he worked in the field of transplantation tolerance with Frank Fitch. He did postdoctoral training with Jean-Charles Cerottini at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research in Lausanne, Switzerland. He did his clinical training in internal medicine and in rheumatology at UCSF. As a rheumatology fellow at UCSF, he trained with Jack Stobo, where he studied the complex structure of the T cell antigen receptor and began his studies on signal transduction in T cells. He joined the faculty of the Departments of Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology in 1985 and became division chief of rheumatology in 1988.

Dr. Weiss is a leader in the study of the signal transduction events that control T lymphocyte responses. His particular interest is in signal transduction by the T cell antigen receptor, how it is regulated by tyrosine kinases and phosphatases, and how abnormalities can lead to autoimmune diseases. Dr. Weiss is currently President of the American Association of Immunologists. His other honors include the Distinguished Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology in 2004, ACR's Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award, the Arthritis Foundation's Lee C. Howley Prize, and the American Association of Immunologists Young Investigator and Meritorius Career Awards. He was also elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine.