Brief Personal History

Stuart L. Schreiber, Ph.D. is Director of Chemical Biology at and Founding Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Morris Loeb Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (1995).

Dr. Schreiber was born February 6, 1956 and raised in Virginia by his parents Colonel Thomas and Gerrie Schreiber. He married Mimi Packman on August 9, 1981. After receiving a B.A. degree at the University of Virginia in June of 1977, he carried out graduate studies at Harvard University under the supervision of R. B. Woodward and Y. Kishi. Following completion of his doctoral studies, he joined the faculty at Yale University in May of 1981. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1984 and to Full Professor in 1986. In 1988, he returned to Harvard, where he has been ever since. In addition to his affiliations above, he is an associate member of the Harvard Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and a member of the Graduate Programs in Biophysics and Immunology at Harvard University.

Dr. Schreiber is known for having developed systematic ways to explore biology, especially disease biology, using small molecules (probes of biological processes that can be precursors to therapeutic drugs) and for his role in the development of the field of chemical biology. Using his chemical approach, he has discovered principles that underlie information transfer and storage in cells. These include discoveries concerning both cell circuitry by signaling proteins calcineurin and mTOR and gene regulation by chromatin-modifying proteins such as the histone deacetylases.

During the past 25 years, Dr. Schreiber has developed an integrated set of techniques that are systematizing the discovery and application of small molecules to biology and medicine. A key contribution was to formalize the planning of diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS). Using DOS and small-molecule screening, many new insights into disease biology have been gained. Over 200 labs nationwide have collaborated with the Broad Institute Chemical Biology Platform (formerly ICCB), leading to many small-molecule probes and insights into biology and medicine. To facilitate sharing of information derived and knowledge gained from small molecules, Dr. Schreiber and colleagues created a public database named ChemBank, which makes accessible to the public (over 80,000 unique users from 12,400 organizations in 164 countries as of Jan 2008) results and analyses involving over 2,700 small-molecule screens and 26 million assay (well) measurements. ChemBank enables cross-sectional analyses of small-molecule screens, a powerful method for understanding the effects of small molecules and for illuminating the circuitry that underlies cellular signaling.

To learn more about these studies:

• Visit http://www.holidaylectures.org/, where you can receive a two DVD set of the 2002 Holiday Lectures on Science presented by Schreiber and Eric Lander and entitled, "Scanning Life's Matrix: Genes, Proteins, and Small Molecules"
• Read the Schreiber lab Science Overview and Current Science pages

In 2007, two new anti-cancer drugs that target proteins discovered in the Schreiber laboratory using his small-molecule approach were approved by the U.S. FDA: torisel (Wyeth; treatment of renal cell carcinoma), which targets mTOR (discovered using rapamycin in 1994) and vorinostat (Merck; treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma), which targets HDACs (HDAC1 discovered using trapoxin in 1996). In addition, proteins first shown by Schreiber to be targeted by a small molecule have been validated therapeutically by the FDA-approval process: tacrolimus (immunosuppression/1994; Schreiber's study of FK506) and bortezomib (multiple myeloma/2003; Schreiber's study of lactacystin). Schreiber also extended chemical biology principles to medicine by participating in the founding of three biopharmaceutical companies, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (1989), ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (1991) and Infinity Pharmaceuticals (2001), each of which has devised new therapeutic agents that are being tested in human clinical trials or used as FDA-approved drugs.

Career

1. Director, Chemical Biology program (formerly ICCB), Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT (2003-); Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1994-); Morris Loeb Professor (1998-) in the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology (1988-), Harvard University.


2. Department Chair (2001-2004); Director, Initiative for Chemical Genetics (2001-) and CMLD (2002-); Founder and Director of Harvard's ICCB (1997-2004); Scientific Co-director, Bauer Center for Genomics Research (1998-2003); Associate Member, Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology (1994-); Affiliate, Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School (1994-2004); Member, Graduate Programs in Biophysics and Immunology (1988-), Harvard University.


3. Professor (1986-88); Associate Professor (tenured) (1984-86); Assistant Professor (1981-84); Department of Chemistry, Yale University.


4. Ph.D., Organic Chemistry (1981), Harvard University; B.A., Chemistry (1977), University of Virginia.


5. Founder, Forma Therapeutics, Inc. (2008); Founder, Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, Infinity Pharmaceuticals (2002-2006); Founder and Chair of the Board of Scientific & Medical Advisers, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (1991-); Founder, ARIAD Gene Therapeutics (1994-); Founder and Scientific Advisory Board Member, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (1988-1990). Adviser, Theravance, 2000-2004. Consultant, Pfizer, 1983-1991.

Education

Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry (with research advisors R. B. Woodward and Y. Kishi), April 1981, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

B.A. in Chemistry (with research advisor R. J. Sundberg), June 1977, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Teaching

• Two instances that comprise a long-term effort to rethink classroom teaching in the natural sciences at Harvard have been implemented and the third installment of this planned "trilogy" is now underway:
  • 1990s: Creation of a new course in organic chemistry for undergraduate students with interest in life science. Harvard Chem 27, "Organic Chemistry of Life" (taught to ~200 undergraduate students/year beginning 1991) was organized using an unusual "top-down" approach, beginning with information transfer in cells as it relates to the diseases AIDS and cancer and ending with the organic chemistry principles that underlie these processes. As no standard organic chemistry text exists that takes this approach, a complete text for the course was developed and distributed to students freely.
  • 2000s: Creation of of a new course in natural/life science for undergraduate "concentrators" (majors elsewhere) in humanities and social sciences. Harvard B47 Core Course, with Jon Clardy, "Molecules of Life" (taught to ~150 undergraduate students/year, 2004-2007) was organized around the principles that underlie macromolecules and small molecules of life and their interactions with the human genome, especially in relation to human behavior, physiology and disease, and to the ethical, legal and social issues that impact society. As no text exists that takes this approach, many course materials were developed and distributed to students freely.
  • Current: Creation of a new course "Organic Synthesis and Genomic Medicine" exploring the role of modern chemistry, especially modern synthetic chemistry, and chemical biology in genome science and genomic medicine, for graduate students at Harvard (in development phase, to be offered in 2008).
• For High School students, developed and presented with Eric S. Lander, the 2002 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Lectures on Science: "Scanning Life's Matrix: Genes Proteins and Small Molecules" (taught to High School Students in the Washington D.C. area). The resulting DVD has been distributed to 35,122 (Nov 2007) high school teachers worldwide and the four-class series or vignettes derived from them have appeared, for example, on ABC News, PBS and the Science Channel.
• 1998 Thomas T. Hoopes Prize with Abhinav Seth for Senior Thesis entitled, "Development of a Calcineurin-Mediated Dimerization System"; 2000 Thomas T. Hoopes Prize with Ben Edelson for Senior Thesis entitled, "Diversity-Oriented Organic Synthesis"; 2006 Thomas T. Hoopes Prize with Philip Dreyfuss for Senior Thesis entitled, "Exploring Chemical Diversity Through Silyl Functionalized Small Molecules"

Service

• Trustee of The Rockefeller University, 1999-2004 (and member of Comm on Scientific Affairs).
• Massachusetts General Hospital Scientific Advisory Committee, 1997-2000.
• Board of Scientific Consultants, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1993-2003.
• Science and Technology Planning Committee, Harvard University, 2003-2005.
• Scientific Advisory Committee, Helen Hay Whitney Foundation, 1998-2002.
• Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute & Member of the National Cancer Institute Committee on Developmental Therapeutics, 1996-99. Re-appointed to the Board of Scientific Advisers of the National Cancer Institute, 2008-2012.
• Visiting Committee for Chemistry and Structural Biology, Rockefeller University, 1992-95.
• Medicinal Chemistry A Study Section, NIH, 1985, 1987 (ad hoc); 1988-92 (permanent).
• Advisory Board, Tables Rondes Roussel Uclaf.
• Founding Editor, Chemistry & Biology (2005- ).
• Founder and Co-Editor: Chemistry & Biology (1993-2004).
• Board of Consulting Editors: Tetrahedron Publications (1983- ).
• Member of the Editorial Board or Advisory Editor of: The Scientist, 2005-; the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, U.S.A., 1995-98; Current Biology, Topics in Stereochemistry, Comprehensive Organic Synthesis; Current Opinion in Chemical Biology; Nature Chemical Biology; ACS Chemical Biology; ChemBioChem; Synthesis Letters; Journal of Organic Chemistry; Journal of Medicinal Chemistry; Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters; Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry.

Academes and Societies

• Elected to the National Academy of Sciences, 1995.
• Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1995.
• Member of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), American Society for Microbiology (ASM), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), Organic and Biological Divisions of The American Chemical Society (ACS), Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Clinical Immunology Society, and Protein Society.

Honors and Awards

Dr. Schreiber has received a number of honors and awards, including:

• The Dreyfus Newly Appointed Faculty Award, 1981;
• Searle Scholar, 1982;
• Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 1985;
• Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 1985;
• NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, 1985;
• ICI Pharmaceuticals Award for Excellence in Chemistry, 1986;
• Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society (ACS), 1986;
• Award in Pure Chemistry, ACS, 1989;
• Arun Guthikonda Memorial Award, Columbia University, 1990;
• Ciba-Geigy Drew Award for Biomedical Research: Molecular Basis for Immune Regulation, 1992;
• Thieme-IUPAC Award in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, 1992;
• NIH Merit Award, 1992;
• Rhone-Poulenc Silver Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry, 1992;
• Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, ACS, 1993;
• Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award, North Jersey Section of ACS, 1993;
• Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Chemistry, ACS, 1994;
• Paul Karrer Gold Medal, University of Zurich, 1994;
• Harrison Howe Award, Rochester Section of ACS, 1995;
• Warren Triennial Prize (shared with Leland Hartwell), Massachusetts General Hospital, 1995;
• George Ledlie Biennial Prize, Harvard University, 1995;
• DuPont Merck Young Investigator Award of the Protein Society, 1995;
• Elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1995;
• Harvey Society Lecture, 1996;
• Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry, 1997;
• Thomas T. Hoopes Prize, 1998;
• Derek Barton Medal, 1999;
• National Cancer Institute Director's Service Award, 1999;
• Alfred Bader Award in Bioorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry, ACS, 2000;
• Emmanuel Merck Award, 2000;
• Donald W. Reynolds Foundation Cardiology Scholar, 2000;
• William H. Nichols Medal, 2001;
• Chiron Corporation Biotechnology Research Award, American Academy of Microbiology, 2001;
• Holiday Lectures on Science, 2002;
• NIH Director's recognition of ChemBank, 2003;
• Society for Biomolecular Screening Achievement Award, 2004;
• Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) Distinguished Scientist Award, 2004;
• Academic Scientist of the Year, Finalist for the 2005 Pharmaceutical Achievement Awards, 2005;
• Thomson Laureate Award: Chemistry, 2006 (with Gerald R. Crabtree);
• U.S. Cancer Foundation Award of Distinguished Scientist, 2007;
• Charles Butcher Award in Genomics and Biotechnology, 2007.

Selected Lectures

Dr. Schreiber has presented over 425 invited lectures during 1981-2008, including the following lectureships:

• Merck-Frosst Lecturer, Ottawa-Carleton Institute, Ottawa, Canada, 1987.
• The Greater Manchester Lectureship in Organic Chemistry (3 lectures), England, 1988.
• BASF Lecturer, University of Michigan, Michigan, 1988.
• Procter & Gamble Lectures (2 lectures), MIT, Cambridge, 1988.
• Roche Lecturer, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland, 1988.
• Research Scholar Lecturer, Drew University, New Jersey, 1988.
• UNC-Glaxo Lecturer, UNC, North Carolina, 1989.
• UC Berkeley-Glaxo Lecturer, California, 1990.
• Syntex Lecturer, Colorado State University, Colorado, 1990.
• Merck Lectureship (3 lectures), Cambridge, England, 1990.
• Monsanto Lectures, Missouri, 1990.
• Arun Guthikonda Memorial Award Lecture, Columbia University, New York, 1990.
• Irving Sigal Memorial Lecture, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pennsylvania, 1992.
• Abbott Lecture, UC San Diego-Scripps Research Institute, California, 1992.
• Werner E. Backman Memorial Lectures (2 lectures), University of Michigan, Michigan, 1992.
• Institute Lecturer, Sloan Kettering Institute, New York, 1992.
• Rhone-Poulenc Lecture, Royal Chemical Society, Cambridge, England, 1993.
• Bayer AG Lecture in Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine, Connecticut, 1993.
• Organic Syntheses Lecturer (2 lectures), University of California at Irvine, California, 1993.
• Edward G. Rietz Lecture, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1993.
• William H. Stein Memorial Lecture, The Rockefeller University, New York, 1993.
• Novum Lecture, Karolinska Institute, Novum, Huddinge, Sweden, 1993.
• K. F. Meyer Lecture, University of California, San Francisco, Department of Microbiology, California, 1994.
• Merck Lectures (2 lectures), McGill and Merck Frosst, Montreal, Canada, 1994.
• 5th Annual Jacob Bigeleisen Lecture, Stony Brook Center for Biotechnology, New York, 1994.
• The 198th Lilly Lecture, Lilly Research Laboratories, Indiana, 1994.
• University of Zurich Paul Kerrer Gold Medal Award Lecture, Switzerland, 1994.
• DeWitt Stetten, Jr. Lecture, National Institutes of Health, Maryland, 1994.
• University Lecture, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas, 1994.
• Marvel Lectures (3 lectures), University of Illinois, Urbana Champagne, Illinois, 1994.
• Calbiochem Lectures (3 lectures), University of California at San Diego, California, 1995.
• V Ernst Memorial Lecture, Brandeis, Massachusetts, 1995.
• University of North Carolina-Burroughs Wellcome Lecturer (2 Lecures), North Carolina, 1995.
• Kharasch Lectures (3 lectures), University of Chicago, Illinois, 1995.
• Dauben Lecturer (2 lectures), University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1996.
• Harvey Lecture, The Harvey Society, Rockefeller University, New York, 1996.
• Ralph I. Dorfman Lecture, Stanford University, California, 1996.
• Karolinska Institute Nobel Forum Lecture, Stockholm, Sweden, 1996.
• The Troy C. Daniels Lectureship (3 lectures), University of California, San Francisco, California, 1996.
• Second Lectureship Award with Princeton University, Wyeth-Ayerst Research, New Jersey, 1996.
• T. Y. Shen Distinguished Lecturer in Biological Chemistry (2 lectures), MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1996.
• The Frederic J. Robbins Lecture (4 lectures), Pomona College, California, 1997.
• Ciba Lectureship, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, 1997.
• Bergmann Lecture, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1997.
• Derome Memorial Lectures (3 lectures), University of Oxford, England, 1997.
• UCLA/Amgen Lecturer (2 lectures), UCLA and Amgen, 1997.
• The Emily F. DiMaggio Lecture, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, 1998.
• Distinguished Lecturer, Scripps Research Institute, California, 1998.
• Sir Derek Barton Lecture, Texas A & M, Texas, 1999.
• Rockefeller University Lecture, Rockefeller University, New York, 1999.
• Emmanuel Merck Lectureship (3 lectures), Darmstadt, Germany, 2000.
• Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Lectureship sponsored by "Till Bršderna Jacob och Marcus Wallenbergs minne" Stockholm, Sweden, 2000.
• Jack Fox Lectureship, The Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, New York, 2000.
• Richard Furlaud Lecture, Rockefeller University, New York, 2001.
• Charles E. Dohme Lectureship, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 2001.
• Holiday Science Lectures (delivered to high school students and recorded on DVD for distribution to high schools nationwide), HHMI, 2002.
• Beckman Lecture, Cal Tech, May 2003.
• Teru Hayashi Lecture, MBL, Woods Hole, July 2003.
• WALS Lecture, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, June, 2005.
• Lundbeck Lecturer, Stockholm and Copenhagen, May, 2006.
• First Achaogen Lecture, University of Montreal, Montreal, 2007.
• Herman Beerman Lecture, Society for Investigative Dermatology, Los Angeles, California, 2007.
• Charles Butcher Award Lecture in Genomics and Biotechnology, University of Colorado, 2007.
• Presidential Lecture, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, 2008.

Publications

A complete listing of Dr. Schreiber's research publications can be found here.