Masad Damha

Dr. Masad J. Damha attended McGill University, completing a B.Sc. in Chemistry (’83) and then a Ph.D. (’87) in Organic Chemistry there with Professor Kelvin K. Ogilvie. Currently, he is James McGill Professor of Chemistry, and his research is bearing fruit in the development of new therapeutic drugs based on protein and RNA targeting. With his students, he has authored over 160 publications, and filed/received several patents worldwide. In 1999, Professor Damha co-founded Anagenis, Inc. – a start-up company with proprietary antisense technologies. Anagenis was formed to assess and develop arabinonucleic acid chemistry against several biological targets, including cancer and a number of infectious diseases. In 2005, Anagenis, Inc. was acquired by Topigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Montreal-based biotechnology company that has discovered antisense compounds for the treatment of respiratory diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, and allergic rhinitis.

Prof. Damha was the Chair of the Department of Chemistry (2013-2018), Past President of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society (2013-2014), and Treasurer of the International Society of Nucleosides, Nucleotides, and Nucleic Acids (2012-2014). He served as Associate Vice-Principal (Research & International Relations) at McGill (2010-2011). He has hosted and/or organized a number of conferences from the Oligonucleotide Therapeutic Society (2016), International Roundtable on Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids (Montreal, 2012), the CSC (Montreal, 2001 and 2011), and symposia at Pacifichem (Honolulu, 2000- 2015) and the American Chemical Society (2007-09).

Select Honors and Awards: The John Charles Polanyi Chemistry Prize (Ministry of Colleges and Universities, 1989), The IUPAC Award (Chemical Institute of Canada, 1991), Ichikizaki Awards for Young Chemist (1989-94), the Merck-Frosst Award for Therapeutic Research (CSC, 1999), the Fellowship of the Chemical Institute of Canada (F.C.I.C.), the James McGill Professorship (McGill University, 2004-2011), the Bernard Belleau Award of the CSC (2007), the Fessenden Professorship in Science Innovation (McGill University; 2010), the David Thomson Award in Graduate Supervision and Teaching (McGill University; 2010), the Leo Yaffe Award for Excellence in Teaching (McGill University; 2011-12), the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (The Governor-General of Canada; 2012), and the R.U. Lemieux Award (Chemical Institute of Canada, 2020).