Alan Palkowitz, PhD, joined the Indiana Bioscience Research Institute (IBRI) as President and CEO in September 2020. Dr. Palkowitz has more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development in both industry and academia. He is building a world-class organization that catalyzes translational research activities across the life sciences ecosystem.
In addition to his role at the IBRI, Dr. Palkowitz maintains his roles at the Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine as a senior research professor of medicine, where he directs the IUSM-Purdue TaRget Enablement to Accelerate Therapy Development for Alzheimer’s Disease (TREAT-AD) Center, and is a key contributor to the IU Precision Health Initiative’s chemical biology and biotherapeutics scientific pillar. The chemical biology and biotherapeutics scientific pillar seeks to better understand the cellular processes behind abnormal gene and protein activity to improve scientists’ ability to identify drug targets and develop precision therapeutics.
Prior to joining the faculty at the IU School of Medicine, Dr. Palkowitz served as the vice president of Discovery Chemistry Research and Technologies at Eli Lilly and Company, where he worked for 28 years. In his role as vice president, Dr. Palkowitz was responsible for the global small molecule drug discovery strategy and delivery of clinical candidates in disease areas including cancer, diabetes, immunology, pain and neurodegenerative disorders.
Additionally, Dr. Palkowitz has served on several prominent advisory committees, including most recently the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Advisory Council and the National Academies of Sciences’ Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology. He has published numerous research articles and is an inventor on almost 60 US patents. Dr. Palkowitz obtained his PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley.