Patrick Griffin, Chair, Dept. of Molecular Therapeutics; Director & Head, Translational Research Institute, The Scripps Institute, FL: Dr. Griffin received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia under the direction of Professor Donald F. Hunt. In collaboration with Professor Hunt and John R. Yates, III, Pat was involved in ground breaking technology and methodology in the field of Biological Mass Spectrometry which set the stage for what we now know as Proteomics.
After graduating from UVa, Dr. Griffin worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratories of Professor Lee Hood at Caltech where he was involved in the application of mass spectrometry to systems biology. Dr. Griffin entered industry as an Associate Scientist at Genentech and he later joined Merck Research Laboratories where he worked as a protein chemist in the fields of inflammation and metabolic disorders.
In his most recent position at Merck, Dr. Griffin was Senior Director of Basic Chemistry and directed a group of over 40 scientists focused on the application of technology in several areas of drug discovery including proteomics, drug metabolism, and pharmacokinetics. Dr. Griffin and his group made significant contributions to the discovery and development of DMP-777 and MK-0431 (Januvia).
In 2002, Dr. Griffin left Merck to head a biotech startup in the Princeton area (ExSAR Corp) as the Chief Scientific Officer. In June 2004, Dr. Griffin came to The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Florida as Professor of Biochemistry and Director of Drug Discovery. In June 2006, he was named Director and Head of the Translational Research Institute and in March 2007 was named Chairman of Molecular Therapeutics. Dr. Griffin is a member of the Scripps Florida steering committee, TSRI-Pfizer joint steering committee, and Co-PI of The Scripps Research Institute Molecular Screening Center.