The Professor receives recognitions from Clarkson University and the University of Chicago
Last Saturday, before Clarkson University awarded more than 750 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees to their graduating students, they awarded Gregory (Greg) Verdine an honorary doctor of science degree.
He earned the degree for "breakthroughs in chemical biology that have resulted in fundamental new knowledge of the processes controlling the expression of genetic information."
On Monday, just two days later, the University of Chicago awarded him the 2019 Herman S. Bloch Award, which recognizes "Scientific Excellence in Industry."
In his acceptance speech at Clarkson, Verdine recalled advice he once received from his grandfather: If you receive a gift, accept it. Don't doubt your worthiness. Don't worry about repaying the kindness.
“The greatest gifts are the ones that you don’t quite yet deserve, the ones that inspire you to live up to them, that spur you to achieve, that orient you toward generosity, that ground you in humility and graciousness,” he said.
If Verdine believes he needs to live up to these two honors, then humility fits.
The Erving Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, Verdine is also the president and chief executive officer of FogPharma, which he co-founded, and LifeMine Therapeutics. Clarkson University described the jack-of-all-chemical-trades as an "inspiring scientist / technologist / innovator / entrepreneur / role model."
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Gregory Verdine (center) stands with two former lab members, now faculty at the University of Chicago, and holds his 2019 Herman S. Bloch Award medal |
As a professor, Verdine introduced biological principles into organic chemistry courses and founded two fields of science that meld basic research and new medicines discovery. The first, chemical biology, enlists chemistry to uncover biological mysteries. And the second, new modalities, works to discover and develop novel structural classes of therapeutics.
In his academic research, Verdine made fundamental discoveries about how organisms manage their genomes: How they tag specific cell types and conduct search-and-destroy operations for cancer-causing abnormalities.
He also invented a powerful new class of therapeutics, so-called stapled peptides, which could intervene in diseases previously considered “undruggable.” Hundreds of laboratories worldwide now conduct basic and translational research on stapled peptides. At Harvard, an optimized stapled peptide designed for the treatment of blood-borne cancers is currently in Phase II clinical development.
To translate his discoveries into marketable drugs, Verdine founded multiple public biotech companies including Variagenics, Enanta, Eleven Bio, Tokai, Wave Life Sciences, and Aileron. He also founded the private company Gloucester Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Celgene). Together, these companies gained FDA approval for three breakthrough medicines. More follow.
Continuing his acceptance speech, Verdine advised the soon-to-be graduates: “Find someone in need of a gift from you—you’d be surprised how small a gesture of kindness and generosity can transform a life.”
Not only does Verdine work to design treatment for some of the most stubborn diseases, he has founded non-profits like Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute and Gloucester Biotechnology Academy to train high school graduates for careers in biotechnology.
So, whether he believes he deserves these two honors or not, he is already on the next phase of his advice: using his gifts to give back and, ultimately, transform lives.
