Spiros Liras

Biography

Spiros Liras, Ph.D., Vice President, Head, Cardiovascular Metabolism, RDRU and Discovery Network, Pfizer, Inc. Spiros Liras is Vice President of Medicinal Chemistry and currently leads the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases, Rare Disease and Chemical Biology groups at Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development in Cambridge, MA. Prior to joining CVMET in 2008, Spiros was Senior Director of Neuroscience Medicinal Chemistry at Pfizer. Spiros obtained a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1990 from Iowa State University where he developed methods for the synthesis of anthracyclines, studied silicon radical mediated cyclizations and unusual patterns of the Diels-Alder reaction. Spiros conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Texas at Austin. At the University of Texas at Austin, Spiros completed the total synthesis of several natural products including members of the ergot alkaloid family, and developed methods for the synthesis of trisubstituted cyclopropanes as peptidomimetics. Spiros is the author or coauthor of over 90 publications and patents and has been the recipient of collaborative research grants and awards. Spiros’ current research interests include transporter and receptor mediated tissue targeting and design of orally active peptides and other macrocycles as therapeutics.

Research Interest

 Microbiology