Advisory Board: Wendy Young, Ph. D.
Announcement:
Appointment of Drug Hunter Advisory Board Member: Wendy Young, Ph. D.
Drug Hunter is pleased to introduce a new member of our Advisory Board, Dr. Wendy Young.
Wendy Young, Ph.D. is a seasoned drug hunter and biotechnology, pharma and life science executive with more than 25 years of experience in the discovery and development of innovative drug discovery platforms and new medicines. She is currently an Executive Partner at MPM Capital focused on actively building and investing in innovative new companies in life sciences. Prior to joining MPM, she was the Senior Vice President at Genentech where she actively built and led the small molecule drug discovery organization. Under her leadership, more than 25 clinical candidates, in the areas of oncology, immunology, neurology, and anti-infectives, progressed into development. Additionally, Wendy led the BTK discovery program and is co-inventor of fenebrutinib which is currently in Phase 3 trials for multiple sclerosis. Prior to joining Genentech, Wendy held roles of increasing scientific leadership at Celera Genomics and Scios, a J&J company. Wendy is an inventor and/or author on more than 70 published patents and manuscripts.
"Wendy is a world-class scientist and inspirational leader who makes every organization she joins better," says Drug Hunter founder Dennis Hu. "We are so privileged to have her guidance in serving our audience and partners."
Known for her strong passion and contributions within the scientific community, Wendy has been involved with the American Chemical Society (ACS) for 20 years. In 2017, she was elected as the ACS National Chair of the Medicinal Chemistry Division (MEDI), and she currently serves as an associate editor of The Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. In 2018, Wendy was inducted as an ACS Fellow for her lifelong service to chemistry, society and medicine, and in 2019 highlighted as “One of the Top 20 Women in Biopharma” by Endpoint News. In 2020 she was awarded the prestigious Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management.
Wendy received a Ph.D. from Princeton University, having studied in the laboratories of Edward C. Taylor. At Princeton, and in collaboration with Eli Lilly, Wendy worked on folate analogs as antitumor agents and Alimta® was an outcome of this collaboration. Thereafter, as an American Cancer Society Fellow, she performed post-doctoral studies in the laboratories of Samuel Danishefsky at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and was part of the team that completed the total synthesis of Taxol®.
About Drug Hunter
Drug Hunter is a science-first digital publication for pharmaceutical leaders, focused on saving readers time, keeping professionals up-to-date, and celebrating the work done in the technology-rich biotech and pharmaceutical industries.
