Scientific Founders

Dr. Jeffery W. Kelly, Ph.D.

The Scripps Research Institute, Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Chemistry
Dean of Graduate and Postgraduate Studies
Skaggs Institute of Chemical Biology

Dr. Kelly is one of the founders of FoldRx Pharmaceuticals and is a leading scientist in the field of protein folding. The central theme of his group’s research is to understand the mechanisms of protein folding and misfolding and to decipher how these processes are related to both normal physiology and disease by using chemical, biophysical, and cell biological approaches. Manipulation of the kinetics and thermodynamics of protein folding and/or misfolding by using carefully designed small molecules synthesized by Dr. Kelly’s laboratory is leading to the discovery of first in class drugs for the amelioration of loss-of-function diseases such as Gaucher disease, and gain-of-toxic function neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, as well as the familial amyloidoses. His research also involves the discovery of small molecules that influence biology of protein homeostasis with the goal of treating age onset diseases.

Since 1997, Dr. Kelly has been the Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Chemistry in the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology and Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Graduate Studies of the Kellog School of Science and Technology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Prior to that, from 1989 to 1997, Dr. Kelly was Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

Dr. Kelly has been awarded numerous honors and awards including the following: Searle Scholar Award in Biomedical Sciences, 1991-1994; Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award, 1994; Texas A&M University Teacher Scholar Award, 1994-1995; Biophysical Society National Lecturer, 1999; State University of New York at Fredonia Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award, 2000; State University of New York at Fredonia Chemistry Department Alumni Award, 2000; American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, 2001; and National Institutes of Health Merit Award, 2006.

Dr. Susan Lindquist, Ph.D

Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Professor of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr Lindquist is a founder of FoldRx Pharmaceuticals and has been a pioneer in the discovery and understanding of protein misfolding processes. Widely known for her groundbreaking work on how changes in protein conformation affect processes such as stress tolerance, neurodegenerative disease and heredity, her work on proteins - the "building blocks" and "workhorses" of life - has given us compelling new insights into genetics, evolution and disease. She has shown that changes in protein folding can have profound and unexpected influences in fields as wide-ranging as human disease, evolution and nanotechnology. Dr. Lindquist ignites collaborations of physicists, chemists and engineers and employs organisms as diverse as yeast, fruit flies, plants and humans. Research in her laboratory has provided critical support to a new genetic theory wherein biological changes are passed from generation to generation through self-perpetuating assemblies of proteins rather than through changes in DNA and RNA. This discovery, and the realization that protein folding problems are shared among all organisms, is providing a framework for understanding several biological mysteries, including the nature of epigenetic inheritance and the origins and pathologies of Parkinson's and mad cow disease.

Since 2001, Dr. Lindquist has concurrently been affiliated with Whitehead Institute, a non-profit, independent research and educational institution, and served as a Professor of Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Lindquist served as Director of Whitehead Institute from 2001 to 2004 and currently serves as a Member. In addition, she became a Member of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in April 2006. Previously she had been affiliated with the University of Chicago for over 20 years, most recently as the Albert D. Lasker Professor of Medical Sciences in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology. Between 1988 and 2001, Dr. Lindquist was also an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1997, the American Philosophical Society in 2003 and the Institute of Medicine in 2006. Dr. Lindquist has also received the Novartis Drew Award in Biomedical Research (2000) and the Dickson Prize in Medicine (2002). She is on the Board of Directors of Johnson & Johnson, a global healthcare company. Lindquist's honors also include being named by Scientific American as one of the "top 50" leaders in business, policy, and research for 2006 and a Doctorate of Science from Columbia University in 2007.