Therapeutic Targeting of the Proteasome in Disease

In honor of Julian Adams, Ph.D., Kenneth C. Anderson M.D., Alfred L. Goldberg, Ph.D. , and Paul G. Richardson, M.D. for their discovery, preclinical and clinical development of Bortezomib (Velcade) to FDA approval and front line therapy for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

Julian Adams

Julian Adams | 2012 Recipient

For the discovery, preclinical and clinical development of  bortezomib to FDA approval and front line therapy for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

Julian Adams, PhD is President of Research and Development at Infinity Pharmaceuticals. Adams is responsible for the full spectrum of Infinity’s drug discovery, preclinical, and clinical development strategy, and regulatory affairs activities. Prior to joining Infinity in 2003, he was the Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery and Development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. In this capacity he had global responsibility for multiple drug discovery programs, including the successful discovery and development of Velcade® (bortezomib), a proteasome inhibitor for cancer therapy. He joined Millennium through its acquisition of LeukoSite in 1999 where he was Senior Vice President of Research and Development. Adams joined LeukoSite as a result of its acquisition of ProScript, Inc., where he had served as a member of the founding management team, Executive Vice President of Research and Development, and a member of the Board of Directors. Earlier in his career, Adams served in various positions, including Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he successfully discovered the drug Viramune® (nevirapine) for HIV. Also, from 1982–
1987, he was a medicinal chemist at Merck.

Adams has received many awards, including the 2001 Ribbon of Hope Award for Velcade® from the International Myeloma Foundation. He is an inventor of more than 40 patents and has authored over 100 papers and book chapters in peer reviewed journals. He is the editor of Proteasome Inhibition in Cancer Therapy, published in July 2004.

Adams received his BS from McGill University and his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of synthetic organic chemistry.

Opening Remarks

Jeffrey S. Flier, MD

Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University

Joan S. Brugge, PhD

Louise Foote Pfeiffer Professor of Cell Biology and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School

Alfred L. Goldberg, PhD

Professor of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School Functions of the Proteasome: From Protein Degradation to Drug Development

Julian Adams, PhD

President, Research and Development, Infinity Pharmaceuticals The Discovery and Development of Bortezomib

Kenneth C. Anderson, MD

Kraft Family Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Director of the LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Bench to Bedside Translation of Proteasome Inhibitor Therapy in Multiple Myeloma

Paul G. Richardson, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Clinical Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute The Clinical Development of Bortezomib in Multiple Myeloma: from Single Agent to Combinations and Beyond

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I have worked all around the world, so it means a great deal to me to be honored by this international award.
- Ruth S. Nussenzweig

Ruth S. Nussenzweig | 2015 Recipient

For their pioneering discoveries in chemistry and parasitology, and personal commitments to translate these into effective chemotherapeutic and vaccine-based approaches to control malaria - their collective work will impact millions of lives globally particularly in the developing countries.

Ruth Nussenzweig is Research Professor, Department of Pathology and Professor Emerita of Microbiology and Pathology, Department of Microbiology
Pathology, NYU School of Medicine. Ruth was born in Vienna, Austria. She got her MD degree in 1953 and PhD degree in 1968 at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. In 1964 she came to the USA and progressed from assistant professor at the NYU School of Medicine.at (1972) to CV Starr Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical and Molecular Parasitology (2002).  Among her many honors, Ruth is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, USA (2007);  member of the National Academy of Sciences (2013); was President of the Harvey Society from 1993-1994;  was awarded the LePrice medal from the American Society of Tropical Medicine; and was the recipient of the prestigious Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (1985).

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