Raymond F. Schinazi

Dr.
Raymond F. Schinazi
Born Alexandria, Egypt
Alma mater University of Bath, England (B.Sc. (1972) and Ph.D. (1976) in Chemistry)
Occupation
  • Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics
  • Director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology
Employer Emory University
Board member of International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC)

Dr. Raymond F. Schinazi is the Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at Emory University.[1] He serves as Senior Research Career Scientist at the Atlanta Department of Veterans Affairs and Director of the Scientific Working Group on Viral Eradication within the NIH-sponsored Emory University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).[2] He is also adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Georgia State University.

Education

He received his B.Sc. (1972) and Ph.D. (1976) in Chemistry from the University of Bath, England and completed post-doctoral training in Pharmacology at Yale University with Dr. Bill Prusoff and in Virology/Immunology at Emory University with Dr. André Nahmias.

Career

Dr. Schinazi has served Emory and the VA for 34 and 29 years respectively. He is also an adjunct professor of Chemistry at Georgia State University and serves as an Advisor for the Schiff Center for Liver Diseases at the University of Miami. He is best known for his innovative and pioneering work on d4T (stavudine), 3TC (lamivudine, in collaboration with Dr. Dennis C. Liotta), FTC (emtriva, in collaboration with Dr. Woo-Baeg Choi and Dr. Dennis C. Liotta), LdT (telbivudine), RCV (racivir) and DAPD (amdoxovir), drugs that are now approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or at various stages of clinical development. Four of these drugs are already FDA approved, and six are used in fixed dose combination (total 10 NDAs). More than 90% of HIV-infected individuals take at least one of the drugs he invented.[3]

Business life

Dr Schinazi is a world leader in the area of nucleoside chemistry and is the founder of several biotechnology companies focusing on antiviral drug discovery and development, including Pharmasset, Inc. (VRUS; acquired by Gilead for $11B in 2012),[4] Triangle Pharmaceuticals (VIRS; acquired by Gilead in 2003),[5] Idenix Pharmaceuticals (IDIX; 51% acquired by Novartis in 2003) and RFS Pharma, LLC (formed in September 2004).[6] He is also the founder of the highly successful HIV-DART and HEP-DART conferences, encouraging scholarship and collaboration in the areas of HIV and hepatitis research. Dr Schinazi has secured more than 90 issued U.S. and international patents.

Philanthropy

Schinazi is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), a global nonprofit organization that combats child sexual exploitation, child pornography, and child abduction.[7][8][9]

He has served on the Presidential Commission on AIDS, and serves as a Governing Trustee for the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).

Personal life

Dr Schinazi was born in Alexandria, Egypt to a Jewish family.[10] His family emigrated to the US during the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1960s.

Honors and awards

Dr. Schinazi is the recipient of numerous awards,[11] including the Georgia Biomedical Industry Growth Award, the Bruce Witte Annual Distinguished Award, and the 2006 Distinguished Scientist Award from the Hepatitis B Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Top Innovators in America Award, and two Merit Awards (10-year grants) from NIH-NIAID. In 2006, he received an honorary D.Sc. from the University of Bath for his research accomplishments in the field of HIV and biotechnology. In 2008, he received the Dean’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture and Award, the most prestigious and celebratory honor for a faculty member in Emory University's School of Medicine. He also received the 2010 Herman Beerman Award from the Society for Investigative Dermatology.

He was inducted into the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia in March 2012, received the Intellectual Property Legends Award in October 2012, and was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors as a Charter Fellow in January 2013.

Publications

Dr. Schinazi has authored over 500 peer-reviewed papers[12] and 7 books. He is on the editorial board of several journals including Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Antiviral Research, AIDS Reviews, Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy, Global Antiviral Journal, Antiviral Therapy, HIV/AIDS - Research and Palliative Care, and Open Access Journal of Hepatology.

Framing the Knowledge of Therapeutics for Viral Hepatitis by Raymond F. Schinazi, Eugene R. Schiff Hardcover, IHL Press, ISBN 0-9754188-1-5 (0-9754188-1-5), Pub. 2006

Frontiers in Nucleosides and Nucleic Acids by Raymond F. Schinazi, Dennis Liotta Hardcover, IHL Press, ISBN 0-9754188-0-7 (0-9754188-0-7), Pub. 2005

Frontiers in Viral Hepatitis by Raymond F. Schinazi, Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, Charlie Rice Hardcover, Elsevier, ISBN 0-444-50986-0 (0-444-50986-0), Pub. 2003

Antiviral Methods and Protocols by Derek Kinchington, Raymond F. Schinazi Hardcover, Humana Press, ISBN 0-89603-561-1 (0-89603-561-1), Pub. 2000

Therapies for Viral Hepatitis by Raymond F. Schinazi Hardcover, International Medical Press, ISBN 978-1-901769-01-2 ISBN 1901769011, Pub. 1998

AIDS in Children, Adolescents & Heterosexual Adults: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Prevention by American Academy of Pediatrics, Raymond F. Schinazi, André J. Nahmias, International Interdisciplinary AIDS Foundation. Hardcover, Elsevier, ISBN 0-444-01315-6 (0-444-01315-6), Pub. 1988

The Human Herpesviruses, an Interdisciplinary Perspective by Raymond F. Schinazi, Walter R. Dowdle, André J. Nahmias, Woodruff Medical Center. Hardcover, Elsevier, ISBN 0-444-00553-6 (0-444-00553-6), Pub. 1981

References

  1. ↑ Emory University's Faculty page
  2. ↑ "Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology". emory.edu.
  3. ↑ "Molecular Match Game". emory.edu.
  4. ↑ "Gilead could have had Pharmasset cheap: founder". Reuters.
  5. ↑ Success Stories; Triangle Pharmaceuticals, The Science Coalition
  6. ↑ "antiviral therapie, RFS Pharma Home". rfspharma.com.
  7. ↑ "ICMEC Board Members". icmec.org.
  8. ↑ "Wagner, Schinazi named National Academy of Inventors Charter Fellows". emory.edu.
  9. ↑ "PhRMA organization honors Emory scientist with Excellence in Academic Research award". emory.edu.
  10. ↑ "Egypt's generals". The Economist.
  11. ↑ Plexus Web Creations. "UGA Center for Drug Discovery Faculty". uga-cdd.org.
  12. ↑ pubmeddev. "Schinazi Raymond - PubMed - NCBI". nih.gov.
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