Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Time: 9:30-10:30AM
Location: Health Science Technology Building (HST), Forum Room 101
This event features Jean Tom, as the Humphrey Distinguished Lecturer, who will talk about "Innovations in the Development of Small Molecule Pharmaceuticals", as part of the Lehigh University Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering's Spring 2024 Colloquium Seminar Series.
Abstract
The diverse and complex molecules that are now being discovered and developed in today’s pharmaceutical industry require innovation across multiple dimensions. Innovations in synthetic chemistry and chemical engineering are critical to solving the technical challenges to enable and to scale up new molecular transformations. A systematic approach to this work is staging the work as route invention, process invention and process characterization, and incorporating high throughput automation, modeling, and data science as key tools. Using this approach, the goal of process scientists in a chemical process development organization is to design safe, sustainable, robust, and cost-effective routes to deliver high quality drug substance. These scientists will also need to be the drivers and implementers of innovation approaches to accomplish such goals. How we work, how we develop people, and how we attract talent to the chemical sciences will be paramount to the continued success of modern pharmaceutical industry. This talk will tie together these elements to provide a view on the current state of innovation in the development of complex small molecule pharmaceuticals.
About the Speaker
Jean Tom is currently the 2024 Brenton Halsey Distinguished Visiting Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Virginia. Jean recently retired from Bristol Myers Squibb where she was the Executive Director of Development Engineering - Chemistry Process Development, leading a group of chemical engineers focused on development of chemical processes to synthesize small-molecule drug candidates for new therapeutics. Prior to joining BMS in 2006, Jean spent 19 years at Merck Research Laboratories. She has been a strong advocate for increasing the role and impact of chemical engineering in the pharmaceutical industry, bringing new approaches to accelerate the generation of process knowledge needed at the different stages of development, and increasing the role of pre-competitive collaboration to advance new technologies for the development of new compounds.
She received B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT. After several years in industry, Jean returned to academia and received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Princeton University. Jean is active in the AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) as a Board of Director member, Fellow, and recipient of the AIChE Industrial Leadership Award (2018), and in the NAE (National Academy of Engineering) to which she was elected to in 2019. She contributes to the chemical engineering community through her service as an ABET program evaluator, external advisory committee member for several departments, and through STEM outreach programs.
Arthur E. Humphrey
Born in 1927 - Moscow, Idaho. He attended the University of Idaho, MIT, and Columbia University where he received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering with a specialty in Biochemical Engineering in 1953. He taught Biochemical Engineering at the University of Pen.nsylvania while serving as the Chemical Engineering Department Chair for 10 years and as Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science for 8 years. In 1980 Dr. Humphrey went to Lehigh University where he served 6 years as Provost and Academic Vice President plus chair of the Biotechnology Institute. In 1986 he was named the Diamond Professor of Biochemical Engineering . He retired from Lehigh in 1992. Beginning in 1992 he served as a contract professor, chairing the Biotechnology Institute and teaching a course in Biochemical Engineering at Penn State University retiring for a second time in 1997. Dr. Humphrey was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1973. He served as President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1990/91. He held Fulbright Professorships in Australia and Japan. He gave lectures on Biotechnology in 31 countries. He was appointed by President Nixon as Chair of the Industrial Microbiology Joint Committee to the USSR under Détente. He received the John Fritz Gold Medal from the Associated Engineering Societies as the Outstanding Engineer in 1997. He also received the University of Pennsylvania Gold Medal in 1988 for distinguished service to Society, and the Asian Biotechnology Gold Medal for distinguished service to Biotechnology in 1991.On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Dr. Humphrey was named one of the most 100 distinguished Chemical Engineers of the modern era. He was awarded three honorary doctorates, one from Lehigh in 1993. He has co-authored three books on Biochemical Engineering, published more than 250 technical papers and served as the research advisor for 27 Ph.D. students. He has received numerous awards from the AIChE, American Chemical Society, and the Society for Industrial Microbiology, including the Annual AIChE Lecture-ship in 1976. He currently resides with his wife of 73 years, at Life Care Community in Scarborough, Maine.
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