A Practical Guide to Drug Development in Academia

Daria Mochly-Rosen, Ph.D., is the George D. Smith Professor of Translational Medicine, a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University School of Medicine, and Founder and Co-director of SPARK at Stanford. She received her Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science, and was a postdoctoral fellow of biochemistry at University of California, Berkeley. She joined Stanford University in 1993 and served as the chair of her department for four years and then Senior Associate Dean for Research for seven years. She leads a multidisciplinary laboratory that includes basic researchers and clinicians, which recently focused their efforts on neurodegenerative diseases. In 2003, her lab’s research led to the founding of KAI Pharmaceuticals, where she served as CSO for one year, and as chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee and a member of the Board of Directors after her return to academia. She also co-founded two other biotech companies. In addition, Dr. Mochly-Rosen served on a variety of review groups including the Peer Review Advisory Committee of the NIH and the Council of Councils of the NIH.

Kevin Grimes, M.D., M.B.A., is a Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University School of Medicine and Co-director of SPARK at Stanford. He received his M.D. from Brown University and after his internship and residency at Stanford, he joined the Stanford faculty as Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Grimes then received his M.B.A from Stanford University and served as a White House Fellow. He later worked in the medical device and biotechnology sectors before returning to academia. He currently teaches drug discovery and development and teaches and practices internal medicine at Stanford.