John Kozarich

Biography

  Dr. Kozarich joins ActivX with over 20 years experience in academic and pharmaceutical research. Most recently, he was Vice President at Merck Research Laboratories, where he was responsible for programs including antimicrobial drug discovery, enzymology, 5a-reductase biology, lipid biochemistry, nuclear receptors, ion channels and structural biology. He has been involved in a number of Merck drug programs, including Propecia, Type-1 5a-reductase inhibitor, and MRSA carbapenams. He also has had primary responsibility for a number of Merck collaborations with biotechnology companies, such as Aurora Biosciences, Cubist and KaroBio. In addition, he has played a major role in Merck's acquisition of SIBIA and in the development of its new Boston Research Center. Previously, Dr. Kozarich held faculty positions at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Yale University School of Medicine. He also served as Vice President, Research and Development at Alkermes, a biotechnology company that develops products based on sophisticated drug delivery technologies. Dr. Kozarich is internationally known for his work on enzyme mechanisms and on the chemistry of DNA cleaving antitumor drugs. He was an American Cancer Society Faculty Research Awardee and in 1988 received the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry of the American Chemical Society for his unique and broad research contributions. He has also served on numerous government and academic committees. Dr. Kozarich has authored over 125 primary scientific publications and holds three patents.  

Research Interest

 Microbiology