Gilbert M. Rishton

Gilbert M. Rishton has extensive experience in the field of medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. Gilbert M. worked as a Senior Research Scientist and Medicinal Chemist at Tanabe Research Laboratories from 1990 to 1995, where they focused on developing antagonists for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. Rishton's work resulted in a partnership with Upjohn for the marketing of alpha4beta1 antagonists.

From 1995 to 2004, Rishton served as a Medicinal Chemist and Preclinical and Clinical Chemistry Manager at Amgen. In this role, they played a crucial role in initiating the Small Molecule drug Discovery program and was responsible for recruiting a team of 50 medicinal chemists.

Starting in 2004, Rishton joined the Channel Islands Alzheimer's Institute at California State University Channel Islands as the Director and Adjunct Faculty Organic Chemistry Instructor. Here, their focus was on raising funds for Alzheimer's disease drug discovery research and studying the effects of dietary antioxidants on neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation.

In 2007, Rishton became a Co-Founder and Chief Chemist at Cognition Therapeutics, where they worked on developing blood-brain barrier permeable small molecule antagonists for Alzheimer's disease.

Since 2008, Rishton has been working as the Chief Science Officer (CSO) at Cardax. Here, they have focused on developing highly bioavailable formulations and derivatives of anti-inflammatory agents to treat and prevent age-related inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and neuroinflammation associated with traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease. Under their leadership, Cardax successfully launched ZanthoSyn, a dietary supplement containing astaxanthin.

Gilbert M. Rishton's education history begins in 1979 when they enrolled at the University of Rhode Island and completed their BS degree in chemistry in 1983. Gilbert M. then pursued further studies at Florida State University from 1983 to 1988, where they obtained their Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. During this time, their research focused on organic chemistry, organic synthesis, and more specifically, morphinan synthesis under the guidance of Martin A. Schwartz. After completing their Ph.D., starting in 1989, Rishton pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at UC Irvine. Gilbert M. worked under the mentorship of Professor Larry E. Overman and specialized in asymmetric organic synthesis.