The Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) is pleased to announce the election of two new board members, Melvin Reichman, Ph.D. and Sue Holland-Crimmin, Ph.D. and the re-election of John Wang, Ph.D.. Each will serve a three-year term on the SBS Board of Directors.

The new SBS board members will be introduced at the 2010 SBS Annual Conference & Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona, April 11 -15, 2010. The two board members whose term will end in April are Dr. Sandra Nelson and current board chairman, Dr. Robert Ames.

"The Board was very pleased that again, we had an outstanding list of volunteers running for election to serve our society. We look forward to the upcoming SBS 16th Annual Conference and Exhibition in Phoenix where we will have the opportunity to welcome Sue, John and Mel to the Board of Directors of SBS," said Ames.

Dr. Mel Reichman received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Rochester, Center for Brain Research in 1985 and did his post doctoral fellowship in the University of Wisconsin's pharmacology department, both under National Research Service Award (NRSA) fellowships.  He has held several line-management leadership positions in pharma, including serving as, head of the Cellular Pharmacology Laboratory at G.D. Searle; head of the Molecular Pharmacology Laboratory at Berlex Biosciences; director New Leads Discovery at Ligand Pharmaceuticals; head of Drug Discovery Operations at Oncogene Science; and director of HTS Project Planning and Management at DuPont Pharma. Reichman is an acknowledged expert in automation and technology deployment for pharmaceutical R&D.  He has contributed to the field a variety of innovative systems and approaches now commonly practiced.  He has co-authored 25 publications and has given dozens of invited talks worldwide on all aspects of drug discovery from concept to clinic.  He is an ad-hoc reviewer for several NIH study sections and a scientific advisor in pharmaceutical R&D for startup companies and scientific societies

Dr. Sue Holland-Crimmin is director and site head, Sample Management Technologies for GlaxoSmithKline Philadelphia research sites. She received her Ph.D. in biochemistry and genetics from the University of Surrey in conjunction with the UK's National Science and Engineering Council. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Wales' Institute of Science and Technology, where she worked on bacterial dehalogenases. In 1985, she joined Beecham Pharmaceuticals as an enzymologist working on clavulanic acid. In 1990, she began her career in Screening Sciences with Glaxo as a screen manager responsible for the development and operation of HTS. During this time, she developed an interest in automation and introduced the first screening robot to Glaxo and established the first automated liquid store in Stevenage, UK for the supply of compounds to HTS. Following the merger of GSK, she moved to Tres Cantos, Spain where she spent two years working on the development of the drug automation facility, then in 2004 moved to the United States to carry out a similar role.

 Dr. John Wang recently started consulting with companies in technology development and drug discovery. Previously, he worked at Novartis (Emeryville, CA, previously Chiron Corp.) where he focused on early ADME profiling and new technology development. During his time at Chiron Corp. Dr. Wang also served as head of drug screening technologies and associate director of drug lead discovery. Prior to Chiron Corp. he worked at Mimotopes in Melbourne, Australia, where he was head of Lead Discovery. Wang graduated from China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China and received his doctoral degree in pharmacology from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milano, Italy. Afterward, he worked at the University of Arizona as a postdoctoral fellow. He has published over 40 research papers and chapters and holds several patents.

  Headquartered in Danbury, CT, the Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) is the only international non-profit scientific society dedicated to drug discovery and its related disciplines. SBS was founded in 1994 to provide a forum for global education and information exchange among professionals in the chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, and agrochemical industries. SBS members represent many of the largest and most influential research institutes, universities and pharmaceutical companies in the world, including the National Cancer Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, government agencies and organizations, and most major companies involved in drug discovery.                                                                                       

For further information contact: Anne Cox -  1.203.743.1336 - acox@sbsonline.org