Ten Former Pfizer Scientists Add "Exciting, Innovative Dimensions" to Pharmacy Education, Research
When Pfizer Inc. announced plans to close its 2.3 million sq. foot research and development facility on Ann Arbor's northeast side in January 2007, the entire community felt the aftershock.
In addition to displacing 2,100 workers, Pfizer's decision would end a 48-year industry presence spanning three owners: Parke-Davis (1959-1970), Warner-Lambert (1970-2000), and Pfizer (2000-2007).
No academic or research unit at the University of Michigan was hit harder by the Pfizer news than the College of Pharmacy. And no U-M unit responded more quickly or more completely to turn adversity into opportunity.
With generous assistance from the Provost's office, the College was able to hire 10 of Pfizer's outstanding scientists. Six were appointed to the newly formed U-M Center for Drug Design (UMCDD) and its core facility, the Medicinal Chemistry Core Synthesis Lab (MCCSL). Two were hired to expand the Master of Pharmaceutical Engineering program -- a joint initiative of College of Pharmacy's and the College of Engineering. Two scientists joined the research groups of College faculty engaged in drug discovery.
Former Pfizer scientists now affiliated with the College of Pharmacy. They are, left to right, bottom to top: Gregory Amidon, research professor, Pharmaceutical Engineering Program; Meihua Feng, associate research scientist, Pharmaceutical Engineering Program; Michael Wilson, associate research scientist, UMCDD/MCCSL; Paul Keller, assistant research scientist, research group of Medicinal Chemistry Professor Ronald Woodard; James Dunbar, research scientist, research group of Medicinal Chemistry Professor Heather Carlson; Hollis Showalter, research professor, UMCDD/MCCSL; Roderick Sorenson, associate research scientist, UMCDD/MCCSL; Scott Larsen, research professor, UMCDD/MCCSL; Paul Kirchhoff, associate research scientist, UMCDD/MCCSL. Not pictured: Geesun Ryu, assistant research scientist UMCDD/ MCCSL.
Photo by Gregory Fox.
"Our College has had a continuous education-research relationship with Pfizer going back more than 20 years," explains Ron Woodard, PhD, chairman and professor of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry. Woodard spearheaded the College's effort to establish the UMCDD/MCCSL, and to hire Pfizer scientists to staff them. "Pfizer scientists have served admirably as adjunct assistant, associate, and full professors. As U-M employees, these same scientists bring hundreds of years of combined industry drug discovery and development experience to our College. They add exciting, innovative dimensions to our education and research mission."
Under the management of Hollis Showalter, PhD, director of UMCDD/MCCSL, the Center is already implementing its business plan as a resource for the synthesis of promising, but unavailable, compounds for preclinical trials. A 30-year veteran of pharmaceutical industry drug discovery and development, Showalter and his fellow UMCDD/MCCSL members are co-investigators on several grants and numerous external proposals. In addition, they are pursuing other collaborations that will provide new opportunities for independent research.
Initial UMCDD/MCCSL forays into drug discovery span cancer, rare diseases such as Gaucher disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and infectious diseases including tuberculosis. Collaborators include researchers affiliated with U-M School of Medicine, the Life Sciences Institute, the Center for Chemical Genomics, as well as other internal and external clients.
In his capacity as a non-tenure-track research professor, Showalter is sponsoring two Pharmacy graduate students with an interest in synthetic medicinal chemistry. UMCDD/MCCSL Co-Director Scott Larsen, PhD, also a non-tenure-track research professor, has several more graduate students rotating in his lab. In the coming months, two of these students will join his research group. Larsen has over 22 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, and is a 2007 recipient of the Pfizer Achievement Award.
"The education and training of graduate students affiliated with Hollis and Scott are separate and distinct from UMCDD/MCCSL business operations," Woodard states. "Our graduate program mission is to train PhD scientists, therefore our students will not be engaged in contract service activity. The education and training of graduate students working with UMCDD/MCCSL researchers will adhere to the same guidelines as that of students working in any other College of Pharmacy basic science research group."
