Richard DiMarchi, Ph.D. the Standiford H. Cox Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and the Linda & Jack Gill Chair in Biomolecular Sciences at Indiana University has been named as the 2015 recipient of the Meienhofer Award for Excellence in Peptide Sciences. The award will be presented to Dr. DiMarchi on September 30, 2015 at the Boulder Peptide Symposium, which will take place from September 28 to October 1, 2015 in Boulder, Colorado, where Dr. DiMarchi will give a presentation of highlights from his prodigious record of research achievements.
Dr. DiMarchi's contributions in peptide & protein sciences consist of three decades of work in academia, the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology companies. He is a co-founder of Ambrx, Inc., Marcadia Biotech, Assembly, Calibrium and MB2 Biotech. He has served as a scientific advisor to multiple pharmaceutical companies (Kai, Ferring, Lilly, Merck, and Roche), three venture funds; 5AM, TMP, Twilight and a former board member of BIO, Isis and Millenium-Bio. He is currently Chairman of the Peptide Therapeutics Foundation and external board member at Assembly Biosciences and On-Target Therapeutics.
Dr. DiMarchi earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1979. He completed post-doctoral training at Rockefeller University under the mentorship of Noble Laureate Prof. Bruce Merrifield after which he began a twenty-two year career as a scientist and executive at Eli Lilly and Company. For more than two decades at Lilly Research Laboratories he provided leadership in biotechnology, endocrine research and product development, retiring as Group Vice President in 2003. The focus of much of Dr. DiMarchi’s research has been the chemical biology of endocrine hormones, and more specifically those pertaining to diabetes and obesity. He is readily recognized for discovery and development of rDNA derived Humalog® (LisPro-human insulin) and the advancement of mixed incretin agonists for treatment of the metabolic syndrome. As scientist and executive, Dr. DiMarchi also significantly contributed to the commercial development of Humulin®, Humatrope®, rGlucagon®, Evista®, and Forteo®. His current research is focused on developing macromolecules with enhanced therapeutic properties through biochemical and chemical optimization, an approach he has termed chemical-biotechnology. He is the author of nearly two hundred scientific publications and holds more than a hundred patents.
Dr. DiMarchi is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2005 AAPS Career Research Achievement Award in Biotechnology, the 2006 ACS Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management, the 2006 ACS Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Service of Public Interest, the 2007 Carothers Award for Excellence in Polymer Sciences, the 2009 Watanabe Award for Life Sciences Research, the 2011 Merrifield Award for Career Contributions in Peptide Sciences, the 2012 Phillip Nelson Innovation Award, the 2014 Erwin Schrödinger-Preis, a 2014 inductee to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, a 2015 winner of the Patient Advocacy award of the philanthropic society Cures within Reach, a 2015 inductee to the National Association of Inventors.
More information on the Meienhofer Award, including a list of previous recipients, and the Boulder Peptide Symposium can be found online at www.boulderpeptide.org.