Leadership

In recognition of his accomplishments, Schultz has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Welch Award in Chemistry, Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the Alan T. Waterman Award of the National Science Foundation, the Solvay Prize, the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, the Arthur C. Cope Award of the American Chemical Society and the Heinrich Wieland Prize.

Schultz has founded nine biotech/tech companies that have pioneered the development and application of new technologies to challenges in energy, materials and human health. In 1999, he founded the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, serving as its director for more than 10 years. In 2012, he established Calibr, a nonprofit biomedical research institute designed as a new model to accelerate the discovery of medicines for unmet needs. He continues to oversee its programs as chief executive officer. Nature Biotechnology ranked Schultz the #1 translational researcher in 2013.

The co-author of more than 600 scientific publications, Schultz is active on many editorial and scientific advisory boards. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Additionally, he has trained over 300 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, many of whom are on the faculties of major research institutions around the world.

Schultz earned his undergraduate (summa cum laude) and doctoral degrees at the California Institute of Technology. After postdoctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley in 1985, where he was a chemistry professor, a principal investigator at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. He joined Scripps Research in 1999 and was appointed chief executive officer in 2015. The following year, he was named president of the institute.

Topol is the principal investigator of two large NIH grants: the All of Us  Research Program that supports precision medicine and a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) that promotes innovation in medicine. 

Topol has published over 1,300 peer-reviewed articles, and his more than 380,000 citations place him among the top 10 most cited researchers in medicine as measured by Thomson Reuters’ Institute for Scientific Information. Widely viewed as one of the most influential physician leaders in the country, Topol is the author of four bestselling books on the future of medicine: ”The Creative Destruction of Medicine”, “The Patient Will See You Now” and “Deep Medicine”. His most recent book, ”Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity”, a New York Times bestseller, focuses on extending healthspan.

Topol earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester and, after additional training at the University of California, San Francisco and Johns Hopkins University, went to the University of Michigan, where he became a tenured professor.

Subsequently, as chief of cardiovascular medicine at Cleveland Clinic, he founded the Lerner College of Medicine and led the organization to become the #1 center for heart care in the nation. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2004. Three years later, he founded the Scripps Research Translational Institute.

Topol is active clinically as a cardiologist.

Engle’s research focuses on accelerating the synthesis of organic molecules that are used in medicines, biological probes, agrochemicals and materials building blocks. Many of these molecules are difficult to prepare, requiring several steps to create, costing a substantial amount of time and effort, and generating large quantities of waste. Engle’s lab is developing catalysts that enable efficient, effective and sustainable methods of chemical synthesis to better produce small molecules. Catalysts developed in the Engle lab have been rapidly adopted in academic and industrial labs around the world.

Prior to joining Scripps Research as an assistant professor in 2015, Engle was an NIH Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. He is also a recipient of the 2021 NSF CAREER Award, 2021 Amgen Young Investigator Award, 2020 Eli Lilly Organic Chemistry Award and 2018 Bristol Myers Squibb Unrestricted Grant, among many other honors.

Since joining the institute as a faculty member, Engle has advised 28 doctoral students in his laboratory and has served on the advisory committees for 100 other Skaggs Graduate School students.

He earned his PhD in chemistry at Scripps Research, DPhil in biochemistry at the University of Oxford, and his bachelor’s degree in chemistry, economics, mathematics and statistics at the University of Michigan.

He previously worked in private practice at Cooley LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised biotechnology and health-tech companies on strategic partnerships, licensing and development agreements, clinical trial collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, venture financing, cross border joint ventures and other complex commercial transactions. His practice centered on working with executive and scientific teams throughout the transaction life cycle to help align development strategy with intellectual property protection, regulatory frameworks and sustainable capital and exit strategy.

At Scripps Research, Olin applies that transactional experience within a nonprofit research environment. He works closely with principal investigators and scientific leadership to help bridge the interface between academic discovery and industry collaboration, supporting initiatives that translate foundational research into practical development pathways while fostering entrepreneurial engagement within the nonprofit research ecosystem.

Olin received a bachelor’s degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from UC Santa Barbara, and a Juris Doctor in intellectual property from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Prior to joining Scripps Research, Barrett served in various leadership roles at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Harvard Medical School and Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He spent the early part of his career in small youth development and education-focused nonprofits in Chicago and Wisconsin.

Barrett received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and his master’s degree in European studies from the European-American University Consortium (awarded by the University of Bath in the United Kingdom).

Since joining Scripps Research in 2008, Broderick has built a career defined by operational excellence and cross-functional partnership. She has managed multimillion-dollar budgets, led large administrative teams and spearheaded initiatives in faculty recruitment and retention, space planning, compliance and the implementation of key technology platforms.

Broderick is committed to cultivating a workplace culture where staff and faculty feel supported and empowered to do their best work—fostering the kind of collaboration and innovation that enables world-class research. She holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in sociology from the University at Buffalo, SUNY.

Prior to Scripps Research, Dang played a foundational role at the Allen Institute, serving first as the chief technology officer and later as chief administrative officer. She led the data analysis pipeline and software development behind the Allen Brain Atlas, one of the most widely used open scientific resources in neuroscience. During her 15-year tenure, she oversaw information technology as well as enterprise functions, including human resources, legal, facilities and research support functions. Her leadership in these areas helped guide the institute’s growth from a single neuroscience focus to a multi-division organization encompassing areas such as Cell Science and Immunology.

Dang began her career as a molecular biologist at NeXstar Pharmaceuticals, which was later acquired by Gilead Sciences, before moving into the bioinformatics field. She has held various roles in drug discovery and bioinformatics software, with a focus on scientific computing and data management.

Dang holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Denver and a master’s degree in information systems from the University of Colorado.

Before being named vice president in 2023, Emery served as senior director of Marketing & Communications at Scripps Research for nearly six years. Previously, he spent more than six years as director of Scientific Communications and Media Relations at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Prior to moving to San Diego, Emery was a science writer and communications officer at Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a science, health and technology reporter at The Baltimore Sun. Earlier, he served three years as assistant editor of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a peer-reviewed journal of the Ecological Society of America.

Emery holds a master’s degree in journalism and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Maryland.

Since joining Scripps Research in 1990 as a facilities coordinator, Hoffman has completed over 3.5 million square feet of institutional projects, including design and construction of advanced biology, chemistry and computational laboratories, as well as vivaria and containment spaces. Most recently, he led a team of professionals to construct a modern 712-space parking structure and the adjacent 84,000-square-foot building that houses the Chi-Huey Wong Laboratories for Biomedical Research, with successful occupancy in 2024.

Hoffman has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from the University of Phoenix, a professional certificate in facilities management from UC San Diego Extended Studies, and an associate’s degree in criminalistics and criminal science from Miramar College.

An accomplished Human Resources executive, Keough brings deep expertise from the biotechnology and life sciences sectors. Prior to joining Scripps Research, she partnered closely with leadership teams at ImmPACT Bio, Mirati Therapeutics, Kite Pharma, Amgen and Baxter Healthcare, helping to scale their organizations and design programs that strengthened their market position and supported long-term growth.

Keough holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business from San Diego State University and multiple professional certifications in Human Resources. She is an active community member and a frequent speaker at industry conferences. For the past three years, she has served as an Executive Challenger for Blood Cancer United and is passionate about supporting programs that improve outcomes for patients and their families.

In addition to his executive responsibilities, Machado serves as board treasurer, contributing financial oversight and strategic guidance to the institute’s governance structure. Through his work, he plays an important role in enabling Scripps Research scientists to pursue groundbreaking work in areas such as immunology, neuroscience, chemistry and translational medicine.

Prior to joining Scripps Research, Machado worked in the external audit department at the public accounting firm Deloitte. During the following 10 years, he worked on numerous client projects, which included the Deloitte audit team of Scripps Research. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of San Diego and is a certified public accountant.