Dustin Dovala

Group leader with 10+ years of experience driving early-stage small-molecule drug discovery from target identification through lead optimization and candidate selection across oncology, virology, and other disease areas

Emeryville, California, United States

About

Group leader with 10+ years of experience accelerating early-stage small-molecule drug discovery from target identification through candidate selection across oncology, virology, and other disease areas. Proven track record building and leading high-performing multidisciplinary teams, driving innovation through academic partnerships, and advancing novel modalities against historically "undruggable" targets.

Experience

  • Novartis (11 yrs 6 mos)
    • Associate Director
      Sep 2024 - Present · 1 yr 11 mos

      -Lead a diverse group of nine talented associates within Discovery Sciences with a mandate to support early stage LMW drug discovery projects by enabling protein sciences, biochemical/biophysical assays, structural biology, and other line functions -Oversee project support for 10+ projects in numerous disease areas and across modalities (induced proximity, xRNA, RLT, covalent and non-covalent inhibitors) -Lead and influence target selection efforts with focus on feasibility, druggability, competitive differentiation, modality, and other metrics -Design and implement hit-finding plans for novel, difficult to drug targets -Member of the US-level leadership team for Discovery Sciences, helping drive strategy, address operational issues, foster a positive culture, and develop talent for ~600 associates -Co-lead multi-million dollar collaboration with UC Berkeley focused on novel modalities applied to the oncology pipeline

    • Senior Principal Scientist
      Sep 2021 - Sep 2024 · 3 yrs 1 mo

      Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CBT) Discovery Sciences (DSc)

    • Principal Scientist II
      Sep 2019 - Aug 2021 · 2 yrs

      Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CBT)