George P. Vlasuk, Phd

Biography

George Vlasuk is a scientifically trained executive with nearly 30 years of leadership experience in drug discovery and development at small and large biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Before joining Navitor, Dr. Vlasuk served as Chief Executive Officer of Sirtris, a GlaxoSmithKline Company, from 2009 to 2013. Prior to Sirtris, Dr. Vlasuk was the Vice President, Metabolic Disease and Hemophilia Research, at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Earlier at Wyeth, Dr. Vlasuk led the areas of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (CVMD), focusing on Type 2 diabetes, obesity, diabetic complications, heart failure, dyslipidemia/ atherosclerosis and cardiac arrhythmia. Prior to Wyeth, Dr. Vlasuk served as Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development at the biopharmaceutical company Corvas International, from 1991 until 2003, following the merger of Corvas and Dendreon Corporation. While at Corvas, he directed research in the discovery, pre-clinical and clinical evaluations of novel anti-thrombotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents. As a member of the senior management team and the board of directors at Corvas, Dr. Vlasuk represented Corvas in discussions with potential corporate partners, public and private investors and equity analysts. Earlier in his career, Dr. Vlasuk led a research team at Merck and Co., and was responsible for multiple discovery programs in the field of cardiovascular medicine. Prior to Merck, Dr. Vlasuk was a researcher in small proteins and peptide compounds at California Biotechnology Inc. (now Scios, part of Johnson & Johnson), where he joined as one of the first 20 employees before the initial public offering. Dr. Vlasuk received his undergraduate degree in Clinical Chemistry from The University of South Florida and his PhD in Chemistry/Biochemistry from Kent State University. He received postdoctoral training in molecular biology at The State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he received a three-year fellowship from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Vlasuk is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, book chapters and reviews and 38 issued U.S. and foreign patents.  

Research Interest

He is interested in Drug Discovery, metabolic, neurodegenerative, autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases.