David H. Drewry

David Drewry, PhD, is a recognised leader in the medicinal chemistry of protein kinases and is one of the principal architects of the research strategy to build an open and collaborative research network to promote target discovery at the SGC UNC, Chapel Hill. He previously enjoyed more than 24 years as a medicinal chemist with GlaxoSmithKline and legacy companies, where he led teams working across the preclinical spectrum of drug discovery. His research interests include the art and science of medicinal chemistry, kinase inhibitor design, utilisation of annotated sets of kinase inhibitors to build understanding of signalling networks, and pre-competitive chemical biology to facilitate target identification. After earning a BS degree, cum laude, in chemistry from Yale University, Drewry earned his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in the laboratory of Paul Bartlett, working on the design, synthesis and mechanistic studies of zinc protease inhibitors. Post-GSK, and before joining the SGC-UNC full time, Drewry spent one year as the head of chemistry at Meryx Pharmaceuticals, a biotech startup that was a spinoff from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. There he focused on small-molecule inhibitors of Mer kinase. Drewry enjoys running, reading, and relaxing with his family at local restaurants, the movie theatre, or in the kitchen playing board games.