Philip Needleman
Philip Needleman is an American pharmacologist and academic. Needleman was a professor and associate dean at the Washington University School of Medicine and he served as an executive at Monsanto/Searle. He is credited with discovering the first thromboxane synthase inhibitor, the inflammatory substance known as COX-2 and the cardiac hormone known as atriopeptin. Needleman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Biography
Needleman attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, where he earned an undergraduate degree and a master's degree, both in pharmacology. He subsequently studied at the University of Maryland Medical School and received a doctoral degree in pharmacology.[1]
He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Washington University School of Medicine, remaining there as a faculty member. He became a full professor and he chaired the pharmacology department from 1976 to 1989.
In 1989 left academia for industry and became vice president of Monsanto.[2] In 1993 he became president of Searle.[2] There he oversaw research into COX-2 that led to the development of the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib (Celebrex) which resulted in the 1998 Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[2] He became senior executive vice president and chief scientist of Pharmacia from 2000 to 2003.[2]
He returned to academia as an associate dean at the Washington University School of Medicine in 2004 and was subsequently named to the school's board of trustees.[1] He served as interim president of two institutions, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the Saint Louis Science Center.[3][4]
Needleman was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1987 in the physiology and pharmacology section.[5] He received the NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science in 2005 for his work on "metabolism of arachidonic acid in physiology and pathophysiology, which generates prostacyclin and thromboxane."[6] He was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015.[7]
References
- 1 2 "Needleman elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences". Washington University School of Medicine. May 1, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 "Philip Needleman". National Academy of Sciences. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ↑ "Leading plant researcher to lead Danforth Center". Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. November 6, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
- ↑ Seltzer, Jo (June 7, 2011). "Scientist thrives on challenge and change". St. Louis Beacon. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
- ↑ NAS member directory
- ↑ NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science National Academy of Sciences web site
- ↑ "Dr. Philip Needleman". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 3, 2015.