By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
Kenneth M. Tramposch, a researcher with 20 years experience in the
discovery, development and project management of new drugs, has been
appointed associate vice president for research at UB, effective Sept.
4.
Tramposch most recently was president and chief operating officer
of Pilot Therapeutics Inc., a venture-backed biopharmaceutical company
based in Winston Salem, N.C.
In his new position, Tramposcha UB graduate with a doctorate in medicinal
chemistrywill be responsible for scientific programs, organized research
units and matters relating to transfer of technology, among other duties.
"Dr. Tramposch brings to UB a wealth of experience in commercialization
of biomedical and biopharmaceutical research," said Jaylan Turkkan,
vice president for research. "This will be invaluable to us as we plan
out the NYSTAR Center in Drug Discovery, and as we capitalize immediately
on discoveries arising from the Center for Drug Discovery and Experimental
Therapeutics in our School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
"As well, Dr. Tramposch is on a scientific advisory board at Roswell
Park Cancer Institute, and will be instrumental in furthering our research
interactions with faculty there," Turkkan said.
Pilot Therapeutics was formed in 1998 based on pioneering Functional
Liponomics platform research. This research identified several
key areas where the dysfunctional regulation of bioactive lipids was
a significant cause of human disease and revealed natural and pharmaceutical
therapeutic strategies for treating those diseases. The company develops
"evidence-based, natural and pharmaceutical products" to treat such
chronic conditions as asthma, hay fever, coronary heart disease, cystic
acne and cancer.
As president and COO, Tramposch was responsible for creating corporate
research strategies targeting inflammation and cancer therapeutic areas,
establishing new research initiatives and recruiting, training and retaining
world-class research-and-development staff.
Prior to joining Pilot Therapeutics in 1999 as vice president, he
worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pharmaceutical Research Institute in
Buffalo, joining the company as senior scientist for biochemistry research
in 1981 and rising through the ranks to senior director of pharmacology.
He also has served as a research chemist in the Medical Research Department
of the VA Medical Center. As an adjunct associate professor in the UB
pharmacy school from 1987-99, he established the cooperative education
program between Bristol-Myers Squibb and the pharmacy school for training
master's students. Since 1999, he has been an adjunct associate professor
of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Tramposch has led large multidisciplinary, multi-site research teams
for several drug-development candidates. One such drug that he invented
and developed, Solage, recently won approval from the Food and Drug
Administration.
He has published 45 papers in scholarly journals and holds nine patents
in the areas of lipid metabolism, agents for inducing selective gene
expression and drugs for inflammatory diseases.
Tramposch is a member and past director of the Inflammation Research
Association, and holds memberships in the American Chemical Society,
the Society of Investigative Dermatology and the American Association
for the Advancement of Science.