Greater Vancouver Metropolitan Area
I am currently in charge of chemistry in a new effort to develop targeted radiotherapeutics. Radioimmunotherapy promises to extend the cancer fighting power of radiotherapy by targeting radiation directly to the tumor site. While modern targeted radiotherapies have shown good safety profiles, these complex drug products present unique and fascinating intellectual challenges in their implementations. With so many design aspects to consider, they can be readily tuned to treat many different cancers and even some non-malignant diseases From 2002, I have developed my synthetic chemistry with proficiency in multitasking and experimental design. I am responsible for coordinating multiple high priority projects. Some of these efforts involve extensive due diligence into disease targets and pathways to decide on the optimal molecular approach. My skills developed while working in a team to build a cytotoxic antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform that was spun out to Zymeworks to become their Zymelink technology. Now I get to formulate and test ideas that span a spectrum from nuclear physics through chemistry and protein science to cancer biology. Besides applying traditional medicinal chemistry to pursue drug candidates, I draw upon experience in chemical biology to devise novel strategies for biologics and conjugates. In order to maximize the effects of any molecular therapeutic strategy, we must invoke chemical biology and consider the structural, mechanistic, and biological aspects of the drug delivery platform. Beyond synthetic chemistry, I am interested in intellectual property and how it affects the course of research and technological development. I also enjoy integrating new disciplines into my work through collaboration and learning from more experienced colleagues. Life-threatening infectious diseases and cancer are the two focal points of my research. The desire to ease suffering motivates me to devote my skills and practice to healthcare, as I have seen firsthand how far we are from ideal treatments.
- Director of synthetic chemistry programs applied to new targeted radiopharmaceuticals. - Function lead for R&D chemistry, radiochemistry and radiobiology - Direct support for bioconjugation, analytical and pharmacology teams to advance production, interpret analysis and ensure quality radiochemistry to promote on-time and robust in vivo studies - Supported chemistry and radiochemistry aspects of IND-enabling studies, IND drafting, responses to FDA questions, and data packages - Close involvement and supervision of process development for chemistry CMC for our first two pipeline assets ABD147 and ABD320, including directly managing work from CMOs, master batch record (MBR) review, and review of executed batch records - Method transfer and support for process development and GMP conjugation to produce ABD147 - Leveraged team in a medicinal chemistry program and SAR around novel linkers to discover a new linker technology that has been applied to our second pipeline asset ABD320 - Incorporated radiobiology capabilities to help evaluate new biologics and small molecules, evaluate metabolism and elucidate mechanisms of action for unique protein engineering and new chemical linkers
- Function lead for R&D chemistry and radiochemistry. - Method transfer for CMC for chemistry and bioconjugation.
Function lead for synthetic chemistry programs applied to new targeted radiopharmaceuticals.
- Leading chemistry on new targeted alpha therapy initiative - Leading several research projects to prepare radioconjugates for in vivo testing - Championed, planned and budgeted three active projects - Monitoring work across chemistry, biologics, and analytical groups - Planning experiments to test conjugate pharmacokinetics - Presenting work internally and to collaborators - Designing radiometal chelators, linkers, and conjugation chemistry to functionalize small molecules, peptides, proteins, and antibodies for targeted radiotherapy - Diligence and competitive intelligence on potential new targets for cancer and new targeting vectors (i.e. peptides, mAbs) - Development and diligence on potential new platform technologies and novel methodologies to treat cancer - Investigations into IP and generation of new IP to protect innovative compositions of matter and strategies - Design and chemistry for other projects needing medicinal chemistry and linkable compounds - Presentations and coordination with development partners to share work progress, plans, and ideas
- Responsible for managing several high priority projects that contributed to CDRD's goal of creating companies of scale - Responsible for assessing the viability of new technologies, running due diligence on disease targets and medicinal approaches, adapting IP and creating new chemistry IP to solve problems with our new technologies - Engaged in complex syntheses of large organic molecules and complex multi-functional drug-linkers for unique ADC platforms - Proposed and implemented several project plans to exemplify novel technologies in ADCs, immunotherapy, and radioimmunotherapy - Collaborated with colleagues and different scientific divisions to advance projects and help other's projects advance
– Co-inventor of key technologies licensed to our spin-off, Kairos Therapeutics, that now form the foundation of Zymeworks' platform technology Zymelink which is now applied to its preclinical candidate ZW49 – In cooperation with team members, scaled up and optimized chemistry on 10+ step LLS routes used to prepare several linkable toxins with proprietary linker chemistries: • Prepared key deliverables with tight timelines in 100 mg quantities for in vivo studies • Rigorously analyzed impurities in each synthetic step to identify problematic synthetic transformations – Applied patented, proprietary linking technology to several other cytotoxins that required multiple (5–10) synthetic steps – Acquired deep understanding of various linker strategies used for conjugates and ADCs – Detailed knowledge of peptide chemistry and related analysis (NMR, LCMS) – Knowledgeable in chemical biology methods and strategies – Simultaneously managed multiple project goals and distinct projects – SAR analyses and ADME/PK optimization for various projects – Coordinated data and demands of multiple groups to drive forward validation of lead/hit compounds – Advised and led several interns and co-op students who made key contributions to our projects.
– Responsible for planning and executing multi-step syntheses of medicinally active compounds. – Prepared several bioactive analogues of lead compound and delivered them in a timely manner. – Worked seamlessly in a multidisciplinary team to tackle multiple objectives related to proprietary antibody drug conjugate technologies. – Prepared linkable derivatives of cytotoxic compounds to develop proprietary ADC platforms.
– Improved scientific manuscripts by analyzing and interpreting technical materials and rewriting sentences or paragraphs to clearly convey the ideas and disclosures of the research within – Evaluated manuscripts and gave feedback for authors to better communicate their science in English – Completed assignments within strict deadlines
– Coordinated multidisciplinary, nanotechnology based, pain-free vaccine initiative across vaccinology, physics, engineering, and chemistry laboratories – Conducted in vitro and in vivo trials of transdermal vaccination technology – Synthesized linkers for use with nanoparticles in drug delivery project – Analyzed prior art and kept up to date with literature to ensure novelty and patentability – Oral presentations given bimonthly to the group – Assisted with public relations by frequently presenting work to potential collaborators, technology transfer office, and prospective licensees – Written communication of results and standard operating procedures – Ensured compliance with rules and regulations for laboratory chemical storage and safety – Responsible for advising students and post-docs on their research daily and at meetings