Officers

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Phil Dawson, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research

President of the Foundation

Adam Mezo, Ph.D.
Executive Scientific Director, Discovery Biology Research, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.

Dr. Adam Mezo has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years with a focus on the discovery of novel peptide, small molecule and protein therapeutics.
Dr. Adam Mezo is currently Executive Scientific Director, Discovery Biology Research at Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc in San Diego. In his current role at Neurocrine, he is focused on the discovery of novel peptide therapeutics for a range of unmet medical needs. Prior to this role, he led teams of chemists, biochemists and drug hunters at the Ferring Research Institute, Eli Lilly, Biogen Idec and Syntonix. He has worked in various therapeutics areas, including diabetes, hemophilia, immunology and reproductive and women’s health. Although peptides are his focus, he has also led teams in other modalities including small molecules and proteins as projects and priorities dictate. Dr. Mezo has over 50 published manuscripts and conference presentations, along with over 20 issued US patents. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Queen’s University (Canada), PhD from the University of British Columbia in organic chemistry and performed postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of bioorganic chemistry.

Secretary

Nick Cox, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Discovery Chemistry, Novo Nordisk

Dr. Cox is the Associate Director of Discovery Chemistry at the Novo Nordisk Research Center in Seattle, WA. He is leading the chemistry department to drive peptide, protein, and other therapeutic discovery efforts targeting chronic conditions including rare endocrine and blood disorders, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, he completed his training as a Postdoctoral Scholar in Stanford’s ChEM-H institute (2014-2016) under the mentorship of Prof. Chaitan Khosla and Dr. Mark Smith, serving as chemistry lead on numerous projects in early-stage drug discovery. Dr. Cox received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from
the University of Washington (2013) in the laboratory of Prof. Gojko Lalic, where he studied organic methodology and transition metal catalysis.

Treasurer

Adrienne Day, Ph.D.
Independent Board Member