Karthik Iyer

Karthik Iyer has extensive work experience in the field of medicinal chemistry. Karthik began their career in 2001 as a Summer Visiting Student Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science. Karthik then went on to become a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 2008 to 2012, where they accomplished the first chemical total synthesis of a homogeneous glycoprotein, Erythropoietin, and participated in a multidisciplinary team effort to synthesize a novel unimolecular multivalent cancer vaccine construct. From 2012 to 2019, Iyer held various roles at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, including Principal Investigator, Senior Scientist I, Scientist II, and Scientist I. During this time, they designed and synthesized molecules to fall within a narrow range of physicochemical and pharmacokinetic parameters, completed a large-scale 5-step synthesis, investigated a new research proposal, and presented the findings at a company-wide seminar. Karthik was also a manager and Medicinal Chemistry mentor to an entry level Ph. D scientist. In 2019, Iyer became a Principal Investigator at Cyclerion, and they are currently a Principal Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry at Arrakis Therapeutics.

Karthik Iyer received their Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Savitribai Phule Pune University between 1997 and 2000. Karthik then went on to earn their Master of Science in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras between 2000 and 2002. Finally, they completed their PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of Utah between 2002 and 2008.