Guest Speaker – Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture – May 4, 2023

Bio
Mike Ellis is Senior Vice President and Head of the Small Molecule Drug Discovery organization at Bristol Myers Squibb. Mike partners with an interdisciplinary team of scientists toward the invention of new medicines. Prior to his current role, Mike was Scientific Vice President leading Immunology, Cardiovascular, & Fibrosis Chemistry at BMS. Mike previously served as head of Immunology & Neuroscience Chemistry at BMS. Prior to joining BMS, Mike was Executive Director of Chemistry at Celgene enabling therapeutic opportunities within epigenetics, fibrosis, immunology, neuroscience, oncology, and protein homeostasis. Mike began his professional career at Merck Research Laboratories in Boston, MA as an individual contributor, people manager, and program lead within the areas of immunology, neuroscience, and oncology. Mike has contributed to the discovery of multiple clinical assets, development candidates, and enabling tools and platforms. He is passionate about talent development and capitalizing on opportunities to impact human health through scientific innovation.
Mike obtained a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with honors, magna cum laude, from Wake Forest University, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the mentorship of Professor Michael T. Crimmins. Following a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in the laboratory of Professor Larry E. Overman at the University of California, Irvine, Mike began his career within the biopharmaceutical industry. Mike received an American Chemical Society (ACS) Young Investigator’s Award in 2016, served as the chair of the 2019 Boston Symposium on Organic & Bioorganic Chemistry, currently serves on the ACS Executive Committee and as a section editor for Medicinal Chemistry Reviews, was co-chair of the 2022 ACS Pharma Leaders consortium, and has been elected chair of the 2023 Medicinal Chemistry Gordon Research Conference.

Abstract
This presentation will highlight at least two examples of drug discovery programs leveraging synthetic organic chemistry combined with innovative and thoughtful molecular design to create and evaluate new potential medicines for the benefit of patients and their communities.