Our Scientific Advisors
Composed of veteran researchers and pioneers in pharmaceutical chemistry, drug discovery and computer-aided design, our advisory board provides the strategic oversight needed to innovate the next generation of solutions to solve medicine's most complex challenges. Their decades of academic and industrial leadership validate our science and fuel our technological roadmap.
Prof. Dr. Thierry Langer, Prof. Dr. Gerd Folkers, Prof. Dr. Hugo Kubinyi, Prof. Dr. Marcel Hibert, and Prof. DDr. Klaus Liedl.
Prof. Dr. Thierry Langer, Founding Partner, Scientific Advisor
Prof. Dr. Thierry Langer is full Professor and Chair of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Vienna, Austria. He has more than 40 years experience in computer aided molecular design, pharmacy, and medicinal chemistry.
He holds an MSc degree in Pharmacy (1988) and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (1991) from University of Vienna. He began his academic career at Leopold-Franzens-University of Innsbruck in 1992 after completing a post doctoral fellowship at the Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France with Prof. C.-G. Wermuth. In 1997, he was appointed Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at University of Innsbruck.
During this time, he had the pioneering vision for a novel molecule generator based on drug fragments and developing tools, namely 3D-pharmacophore chemical feature interaction models, to profile natural products against in silico models to identify potential therapeutic targets.
In 2003, with colleagues, he founded the company Inte:Ligand GmbH which develops scientific software for computer-aided molecular design, and served as the CEO until 2008. In this period, the IL Natural Products Database, the ILPharmDB and the first prototypes of LigandScout were developed.
In 2008, he was appointed CEO of Prestwick Chemical, Inc., a world renown contract research organization specialized in medicinal chemistry services, located in Strasbourg, France. Under his leadership, several drug discovery programs in different research target sectors successfully progressed into pre-clinical and clinical development. In 2013, he was nominated full professor for medicinal chemistry at University of Vienna, where he currently heads the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Faculty of Life Sciences.
Prof. Langer is a renown scientist in the field of computer-aided molecular design. His scientific work has culminated in more than 350 original articles and invited reviews in peer reviewed journals, several book chapters, one edited book, and more than 300 presentations at scientific meetings. He is currently President of the Austrian Pharmaceutical Society (OePhG).
His main research interests are focused on theoretical pharmaceutical chemistry, drug design, and 3D-pharmacophore elucidation using molecular modeling techniques as well as integration 3D-pharmacophore technology with ML and AI to significantly improve predictions and decision support for medicinal chemistry that have contributed significantly to the chemoinformatics and drug discovery fields.
Prof. Dr. Gerd Folkers
Gerd Folkers is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences at Federal Institute of Technology Zurich [ETH Zurich (ETHZ]. He has been a Full Professor in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) since 1994. From 2004 until the end of 2015 he served as Director of the Collegium Helveticum. Jointly sponsored by ETHZ and the University of Zurich, this research institute explores new scientific perspectives through transdisciplinary processes.
Gerd Folkers' early research was instrumental in establishing computer-aided molecular design (CAMD) in Switzerland, particularly for personalized cancer therapies. His later work at the Collegium Helveticum focused on the "Theory of the Experiment" and the role of intuition and visualization in scientific discovery. He espouses "Critical Thinking" in university curricula, including understanding of the historical and social context of scientific data.
He studied Pharmacy at the University of Bonn, obtaining his PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1982. After research fellowships in Bern, London and the USA, he obtained his postdoctoral degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Tübingen in 1989. His postdoctoral thesis was on structure-based design of antiviral and anticancer drugs. In 1991, he was appointed Associate Professor in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ). Gerd Folkers was a founding member of the Center of Pharmaceutical Sciences Basel-Zurich, which he headed until 2003. His research was centred on the molecular design of ingredients and the use of such designs in personalised therapies to treat tumours and diseases of the immune system.
Gerd Folkers was a member of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) from 2003 to 2011. He has been a member of the Swiss Science Council since 2012. Acting as Vice-President for four years, he is President of the SSC since the beginning of 2016.
Prof. Dr. Hugo Kubinyi
Prof. Hugo Kubinyi was Head of the Department of Drug Design, Molecular Modelling and Protein Crystallography in the Life Sciences Research Center (Hauptlaboratorium) of BASF AG, Ludwigshafen. He retired in June 2001. Since 1998 he was also responsible for the Combinatorial Chemistry activities of BASF AG. After his Ph.D. thesis at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Munich, and a Postdoc position at the Biochemical Institute of the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, he joined the Research Department of the pharmaceutical company KNOLL AG, Ludwigshafen, in 1966. In 1985 he moved to BASF AG. After his habilitation in 1978 he was nominated in 1986 as Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Heidelberg. From 1993-2000 he was Deputy Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of GMD, the German National Center of Information Technology, and from 1995-2000 he was Chair of the QSAR and Modelling Society (740 members, worldwide).
His fields of research are structure-activity relationships, molecular modelling, and rational drug design.
Prof. Dr. Marcel Hibert
Marcel Hibert is Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Strasbourg. After a career in the pharmaceutical industry, he spent 20 years directing the Laboratory of Therapeutic Innovation (UMR7200 CNRS/University of Strasbourg), which combines fundamental and applied research in the field of biological and medicinal chemistry. He created the National Chemical Library in France and contributed to the discovery and development of a drug (Dolasetron) and several drug candidates for anxiety, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. He is currently interested in the molecular mechanisms of love in all its forms, which has led to the discovery of a potential first treatment for the primary symptoms of autism.
He is a member of the National Academy of Pharmacy and has been awarded the CNRS Silver Medal.
He has authored three popular science essays and the book titled 'Oxytocin Mon Amour' published by Tana Editions and HumenSciences.
Prof. DDr. Klaus Liedl
Klaus R. Liedl is Full Professor of Theoretical Chemistry and Head of the Department of General, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Innsbruck. His education comprises degrees in chemistry, mathematics and law. He has authored more than 325 research publications. Klaus R. Liedl’s original academic education comprises both degrees in chemistry and mathematics resulting in a Master of Science (Mag.rer.nat.) degree at the University of Innsbruck in 1992. During his PhD he developed a QM/MM method, which allows particles to enter and leave the region of QM description in a consistent way. This method and its newer modification have been applied by numerous research groups around the world, especially, to study solvation processes.
In 1993, he was the recipient of the Kurt Gödel research grant. After he finished his chemistry and mathematics studies (Innsbruck 1989, 1992), he studied theoretical physics and obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry (1995). In 1998 he obtained the Novartis research award, in 2002 the Hellmann Award of AG Theoretical Chemistry (German Bunsen Society, DPG, GDCh). In 2000 he became member of Scientia Europaea (French academy of sciences, Aventis). He was head of the Institute of General, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry in 2003 and 2004. 2006 he finished his doctorate in juridical science focusing on intellectual property rights complementing his chemical research.
His main research interests are structure and dynamics of biomolecular systems,
drug design, intellectual property rights (patent law).