Leadership

Robert J. Ternansky, Ph.D. - Sr. Vice President

Dr. Ternansky received his Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from The Ohio State University under the direction of Professor Leo A. Paquette and completed post-doctoral training with Professor Paul A. Wender at Stanford University. Dr. Ternansky was most recently the Director of Medicinal Chemistry at IDUN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in San Diego where he co-invented a lead series of caspase inhibitors for the prevention of apoptotic cell death. A successful Phase I clinical trial was recently completed for one of these inhibitors (IDN-6556). Prior to his work at IDUN, Dr. Ternansky held the position of Associate Director of Inflammation at La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company, where he led the analytical team on the pre-clinical development of Riquentâ"¢ (LJP-394), a toleragen for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosis, currently having completed Phase III trials. Prior to joining La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company, Dr. Ternansky was a Research Scientist and Team Leader at Eli Lilly and Co., where he invented LY193239, the first pyrazolidinone antibacterial agent to be developed for clinical investigation. He was also a member of the pre-clinical discovery/development team for loracarbef (Lorabidâ"¢), the first marketed 1-carbacephalosporin antibacterial agent. Finally, Dr. Ternansky also invented trovirdine, a NNRT inhibitor of HIV-1 RT, which is currently in advanced clinical trials for the treatment of HIV infection. Dr. Ternansky has authored 31 scientific publications and holds 26 issued U.S. patents. He is currently a lecturer in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at The University of California, San Diego and has recently been named Adjunct Professor at the Center for Combinatorial Chemistry, Jilin University in Changchun, China. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of American Life Science Pharmaceuticals, Inc.