Jake Janey, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Chemical Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Jake Janey is currently a Principal Scientist and a leader in chemical automation for late phase chemical development at Bristol Myers-Squibb in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He received his B.S. in chemistry in 1998 from the University of Chicago as an undergraduate researcher with Prof. Viresh Rawal. In 2003, Jake obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University under the tutelage of Prof. David A. Evans. He then began his career as a process chemist at Merck in Rahway, New Jersey where he later lead their efforts in the area of biocatalysis. In 2010, his team, in collaboration with Codexis, evolved a transaminase based route for the manufacture of Sitagliptin, which garnered the Presidential Green Chemistry Award and was later described in Science. Recently, Jake moved to Bristol Myers-Squibb where he is working to apply automation tools to the design and development of robust chemical processes.
Nicholas Leadbeater, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Chemistry, University of Connecticut
Nicholas Leadbeater, a native of the United Kingdom, is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Connecticut in the USA. After undertaking his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in organometallic chemistry, he stayed at that institution as a University Research Fellow for three years. He then moved to King’s College London as a lecturer before moving to his current position in 2004. Dr Leadbeater’s research group focuses on the development of new synthetic methodology. They use microwave heating and continuous-flow processing extensively as tools. In the area of flow chemistry, in the last year they have developed a route to the potent chemotherapeutic drug Cisplatin as well as performed a range of synthetic organic and organometallic transformations. Most recently they have used an on-demand gas delivery reactor in which it is possible to load gas and heat simultaneously for a range of reactions involving reactive gases. Alongside research work, Dr Leadbeater has a passion for undergraduate education, developing new courses and curriculum in chemistry. In 2010 he received the University of Connecticut Excellence in Teaching Award for the physical sciences.
Bryan Li, Ph.D., Associate Research Fellow, Chemical R&D, Pfizer Pharmaceutical Science
Bryan Li is currently an associate research fellow and the team lead of the flow chemistry team in Chemical R & D, Pfizer Global Research & Development in Groton, Connecticut. He received his B.Sc. from East China University of Technology in Shanghai, China, and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Rhode Island under the guidance of Prof. Elie Abushanab. Subsequently he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Gary Posner’s group at the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, Maryland. He moved overseas and worked in the National University of Singapore, and returned to the U.S. in 1998 to join Pfizer Inc as a process chemist. At Pfizer, he serves as a program lead responsible for exploratory process development of drug candidates, and also the team lead of the flow chemistry team in the Chemical R&D Pre-POC (proof of concept) group. He is currently driving the implementation of flow chemistry technology in the pre-POC workflow, and reaching out to Pfizer MedChem community to identify flow opportunities. His team’s remit is to utilize the flow technology to develop fit for purpose syntheses and deliver speed, quality and efficiency