Dr. Jie Jack Li is a distinguished medicinal chemist with extensive leadership experience in pharmaceutical research and development across major global institutions. He currently serves as Vice President of Discovery Chemistry at Shanghai ChemPartner, where he leads strategic initiatives in drug discovery and development for the Chinese and global markets. Previously, Dr. Li held significant positions at Pfizer Global Research and Development as a Senior Principal Scientist from 1997 to 2007 and at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company as a Sr. Research Investigator II from 2007 to 2012, where he directed teams of scientists across multiple therapeutic areas. His career trajectory demonstrates exceptional progression from bench scientist to executive leadership, with particular expertise in translating scientific discoveries into viable drug candidates for diverse medical applications.
Dr. Li has made substantial contributions to medicinal chemistry through his work on drug candidates for inflammation, central nervous system disorders, and dermatological conditions, including compounds designed for oral and dermal applications as well as those capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier. His expertise spans multiple drug target classes including GPCRs (Smoothened, MCP-1, IL-8, and 5HT6), enzymes (MMPs, broad spectrum and MMP-13 specific), and nuclear hormone receptors (AR and TR), resulting in several drug candidates advancing through development pipelines. Notably, one of his compounds progressed to Phase I clinical trials as a thyroid receptor agonist, demonstrating his ability to deliver impactful therapeutic candidates. His research has significantly advanced chemical synthesis methodologies, with particular focus on improving discovery routes for drug candidates and scaling up toxicology batches for preclinical development.
As a Founding Executive Editorial Board Member for MedChemPharm24 at Thieme, Dr. Li has shaped the discourse in medicinal chemistry through scholarly publication and knowledge dissemination. He has demonstrated exceptional leadership capabilities by managing teams of up to eight chemists at BBRC in India and leading multidisciplinary project teams comprising more than a dozen scientists across molecular biology, pharmacology, PK/PD, and clinical development functions. His contributions extend to authoring significant works including 'Medicinal Chemistry for Practitioners' and serving as Volume Editor for 'Science of Synthesis.' Dr. Li continues to influence the field through his strategic vision at Shanghai ChemPartner, where he is driving innovation in discovery chemistry with a focus on addressing unmet medical needs through rational drug design and development.
