ACS-Award-Team-Innovation-Vladimir

Sponsor: ACS Corporation Associates

Citation: For scientific innovation leading to the discovery and development of palbociclib (Ibrance), the first CDK4/6 inhibitor for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

What their colleagues say: “This team is responsible for the discovery of palbociclib (Ibrance), a first-in-class CDK4/6 inhibitor for the treatment of hormone receptor positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor negative (HER2–) metastatic breast cancer in combination with letrozole or fulvestrant. This team overcame significant hurdles to discover an agent with suitable pharmacology. Additionally, the demand for rapid advancement from midstage clinical trials to the market required significant process development innovation.”—Tony Wood, GlaxoSmithKline

Beylin

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Vladimir G. Beylin

Current position: retired research fellow, Pfizer

Education: M.S., chemical technology/engineering, Leningrad Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute; Ph.D., organic chemistry, Leningrad Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute

Beylin on what he’s most proud of in his career: “When working in pharmaceutical R&D on many projects and lead compound development, you always hope and dream that one of them will end up being a real remedy for patients in need. When PD-0332991 became Ibrance and started helping thousands of cancer patients, I felt very glad and proud to be a member of the diverse and multidisciplinary team that made this dream a reality.”

Chekal

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Brian P. Chekal

Current position: associate research fellow, Pfizer

Education: B.S., chemical engineering, University of Virginia; Ph.D., chemical engineering, Northwestern University

Chekal on what he hopes to accomplish in the next decade: “Over the past 10 years, we have seen significant changes in the way that a laboratory scientist develops an API manufacturing process, with a greater emphasis placed on automated lab reactors with process analytical technology and supported by process modeling tools. I expect that the next decade will see similarly dramatic changes, and I am excited to lead a group of scientists who are leading the use of computational modeling and experimental approaches to develop manufacturing processes with greater process understanding using less time and material.”

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Nga M. Do

Current position: principal scientist, Pfizer

Education: B.S., chemistry, Purdue University; M.S., chemistry, University of California, Irvine

Do on her biggest research challenge: “The biggest research challenge is the speed of our development work. While intellectually stimulating, the ability to develop efficient processes under the time constraints makes this an ongoing research challenge. The fact that we work on so many different molecules that often require new and different approaches generates new challenges every day.”

Fry

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David W. Fry

Current position: retired scientist, Pfizer

Education: B.S., microbiology, Ohio State University; Ph.D., biochemistry, Ohio State University

Fry on the most important lesson from his scientific career: “The greatest satisfaction from my scientific career has come from my contributions to the field of oncology drug discovery in the area of protein kinases, but even more importantly, the end result of these efforts, which has culminated in new medicines that benefit cancer patients. The most important lesson I learned during my career was that persistence, dedication, and a staunch refusal to accept failure gets you most of the way to achieving your goals.”

Ide

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Nathan D. Ide

Current position: senior principal research scientist, AbbVie

Education: B.S., chemistry, Hope College; Ph.D., chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Ide on what he hopes to accomplish in the next decade:“The pharmaceutical industry has brought some truly remarkable treatments to patients over the past decade. Over the next decade, I hope to be part of that continued effort to bring new medicines to patients, working to trim down the list of diseases without effective treatments. I also hope that in the process of delivering effective new medicines, we can help contribute to an improvement in the way that society views the pharmaceutical industry, the field of chemistry, and the broader scientific community.”

Jones

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Brian P. Jones

Current position: senior scientist, Pfizer

Education: B.S., chemistry, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; M.S., chemistry, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Jones on his biggest research challenge:“My biggest research challenge was developing a crystallization that avoided a particular crystal form of a compound which was prone to fracturing and would therefore filter extremely slowly. The crystallization we developed produced a form of the compound which would not fracture and filtered much more quickly.”

Toogood

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Peter L. Toogood

Current position: senior vice president of chemistry, Lycera

Education: B.S., chemistry, Imperial College London; Ph.D., organic chemistry, Imperial College London

Toogood on research dedication: “In addition to teamwork, I think our success with Ibrance derived very directly from a stubborn determination to persist in the search for a single kinase target selective inhibitor.”

Zhou

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Hairong (Angela) Zhou

Current position: senior sourcing manager, Genentech

Education: B.S., chemistry, Shandong University; M.S., analytical chemistry, Shandong University; M.S., bioorgan- ic chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Zhou on what gets her creative juices flowing: “I love working in the pharmaceutical field, where I am part of a team to discover and develop new drugs for treating various diseases. I am inspired by talented and innovative colleagues every day, and the positive energy gets me going. Being able to provide solutions to a challenging situation makes me feel a great deal of accomplishment, not only from running an experiment in the lab for testing a hypothesis but also from coming up with a strategic plan to enable the successful delivery of the goal.”

Please send announcements of awards to l_wang@acs.org.

ACS Award for Computers in Chemical & Pharmaceutical Research: Jürgen Bajorath

ACS Award in Surface Chemistry: Stacey F. Bent

ACS Award for Team Innovation: Vladimir G. Beylin, Brian P. Chekal, Nga M. Do, David W. Fry, Nathan D. Ide, Brian P. Jones, Peter L. Toogood, and Hairong (Angela) Zhou

ACS Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching & Learning of Chemistry: George M. Bodner

F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry: A. S. Borovik

E. V. Murphree Award in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry: Linda J. Broadbelt

James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry: Cynthia J. Burrows

Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry: Alison Butler

ACS Award in Theoretical Chemistry: Emily A. Carter

ACS Award in Pure Chemistry: Mircea Dincă

Award for Volunteer Service to the American Chemical Society: Carol A. Duane