Tetrahedron Symposium Speaker Biography

Dr Stephen Fesik

Stephen Fesik obtained his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Connecticut in 1981 and was a postdoctoral associate at Yale University in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from 1981 to 1983.  After his postdoctoral work, he joined Abbott.  At Abbott he developed several new NMR methods and determined the three-dimensional structures of several proteins and protein/ligand complexes.  In addition to these structural studies, he developed a method for drug discovery called SAR by NMR and applied this method to identify and optimize ligands for binding to many protein drug targets.  His current research interests involve the use of siRNA for target identification and target validation. Dr. Fesik has published more than 220 papers, trained 27 postdoctoral fellows, has been a reviewer for the NIH Biophysical Chemistry Study Section, and has served as a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Journal of Biomolecular NMR, Biophysical Journal, Molecular Cell, Chemical Biology & Drug Design, ChemMedChem, and the Highlights Advisory Panel for Nature Reviews Cancer.  In addition, he is a member of the Keystone Scientific Advisory Board, the Program Planning Committee and Board of Directors, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the UPenn Abramson Cancer Center.   He has obtained several awards, including the Chairman’s Award (1996) and Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award (1997) at Abbott Laboratories, the Servier Lectures Award (1998) from the University of Montreal, the ASBMB-Fritz Lipmann Award (1999), and the lifetime achievement award in nuclear magnetic resonance from EAS (2003).  In 2000 he became the Divisional Vice President of Cancer Research at Abbott Laboratories where he leads a group responsible for discovering new drugs to treat cancer..