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Benjamin Cravatt, Ph.D. Joins Ivy Brain Tumor Center’s Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Cravatt is a world-renowned medicinal chemist and global leader in drug discovery
(PHOENIX, Ariz. – June 24, 2020) – The Ivy Brain Tumor Center at Barrow Neurological Institute, a nonprofit translational research program that specializes in identifying new, first-in-class therapeutic agents that match the individual biologies of brain tumor patients, has announced the appointment of Benjamin Cravatt, Ph.D to its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Cravatt is a world-renowned chemical biologist with extensive experience in drug discovery and drug development.
Dr. Cravatt is the co-founder of Vividion Therapeutics, Abide Therapeutics (acquired by Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals) and ActivX Biosciences (acquired by Kyorin Pharmaceuticals). He currently serves as Professor and Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology at Scripps Research. His numerous honors and accolades include a Searle Scholar Award, the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, a Cope Scholar Award, the ASBMB Merck Award, the Royal Society of Chemistry Jeremy Knowles Award, and the AACR Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Award.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Cravatt to our Scientific Advisory Board as we seek to redefine drug development for brain tumor patients,” said Dr. Nader Sanai, director of the Ivy Brain Tumor Center. “He is a widely respected global leader in drug discovery and has pioneered innovative strategies to identify and develop new therapies. His unique perspective and guidance will be invaluable as our clinical trials program enters its next phase of growth.”
More than 138,000 U.S. patients and 1.4 million patients worldwide are struggling with brain cancer. By the end of the year, another 256,000 will be diagnosed. For the most common malignant brain tumor – glioblastoma (GBM) – the average five-year survival rate is less than 5% and it’s been 20 years since a new drug approval has provided survival benefit.
“I am looking forward to working with the Ivy Brain Tumor Center and helping them as they expand their Phase 0 clinical trials program to identify new effective therapies for this underserved patient population,” said Dr. Cravatt. “They are taking the proven principals of biotech and implementing them into academic science. It is a logical approach that no academic medical center or biotech has had the infrastructure to support.”
Current members of the Ivy Brain Tumor Center’s Scientific Advisory Board include Dr. Eric Holland of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Dr. Frank McCormick of UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Patricia LoRusso of Yale Cancer Center and Dr. Susan Chang of the UCSF Brain Tumor Center.
For more information about the Ivy Brain Tumor Center and its latest developments, please visit www.ivybraintumorcenter.org.
Ivy Brain Tumor Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, AZ is a nonprofit translational research program that employs a bold, early-phase clinical trials strategy to identify new treatments for aggressive brain tumors, including glioblastoma. The Ivy Center’s Phase 0 clinical trials program is the largest of its kind in the world and enables personalized care in a fraction of the time and cost associated with traditional drug development. Unlike conventional clinical trials focusing on single drugs, its accelerated trials program tests therapeutic combinations matched to individual patients. Learn more at IvyBrainTumorCenter.org. Follow the Ivy Brain Tumor Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.