Scripps Research names Jin-Quan Yu to newly-endowed Bristol Myers Squibb Chair in Chemistry
December 08, 2020
LA JOLLA, CA & PRINCETON, NJ—Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Scripps Research today announced that Bristol Myers Squibb has endowed a chair in chemistry at Scripps Research to advance scientific research critical to drug discovery.
Scripps Research has named Professor Jin-Quan Yu, PhD, a pioneering chemist whose research has paved the way to powerful new techniques used in fields ranging from drug discovery to materials science, to be the inaugural holder of the Bristol Myers Squibb Endowed Chair in Chemistry.
“Bristol Myers Squibb and Scripps Research have had a long-standing relationship and we are proud to endow this chair to support transformative research with unrestricted funding,” said Rupert Vessey, MA, BM, BCh, FRCP, DPhil, Executive Vice President and President, Research & Early Development, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We look forward to further groundbreaking chemistry to emerge from Scripps Research.”
“Academic research serves as a wellspring for advancements in medicine,” said Peter Schultz, PhD, president and CEO of Scripps Research. “Looking at how a drug can progress from a discovery in our labs to an approved medicine for patients, it becomes clear that effective translation of academic discoveries to biopharma is essential for tackling the world’s health challenges.”
Schultz continued, “The new $3 million chair endowed by Bristol Myers Squibb can help to support the next generation of biomedical breakthroughs by providing sustained, unrestricted funding to support research programs. Jin-Quan’s creative insights and unconventional approach to organic synthesis have already transformed chemical processes used for developing new medicines and many other products that can impact people’s lives around the globe.”
Yu received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Cambridge in 1999. He subsequently held positions as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and as a junior faculty member at Cambridge and Brandeis University. He joined the faculty at Scripps Research in 2007, where he is the Frank and Bertha Hupp Professor of Chemistry.
In 2016, he was named a MacArthur Fellow for pioneering new methods in chemistry and enabling the development of versatile, novel and beneficial chemical compounds. His work was cited by the MacArthur Foundation as “breaking down barriers to the development of versatile compounds with enormous benefits to academic, industrial, and pharmaceutical research.”
Yu’s research team has published more than 200 papers in influential research journals and has forged collaborations with academic and industry leaders around the world. This includes a collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb researchers to develop a valuable new technique, known as “ligand-accelerated non-directed C–H functionalization,” that has already found application in pharmaceutical chemistry and a wide range of other chemical industries.
“I’m honored that Scripps Research has named me to be the Bristol Myers Squibb Endowed Chair in Chemistry,” says Yu. “This support ensures my team has the flexibility and resources to continue to pursue the most interesting and high-impact ideas.”
For more information, contact press@scripps.edu