Anthony W. Czarnik

Dr. Anthony (Tony) W. Czarnik is a chemist and inventor best known for pioneering studies in the field of fluorescent chemosensors and co-founding Illumina, Inc. (1998), where he served as CSO until 2000. Dr. Czarnik earned his B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin in 1977, followed by his M.S. in Biochemistry and Ph.D in Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1980 and 1981, respectively. Czarnik was also the founding editor of ACS Combinatorial Science (formerly Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry), an academic journal published by the American Chemical Society. He is known internationally for his scientific contributions, which include the application of deuterium in pharmaceuticals, beverages, and agrochemicals, combinatorial chemistry-facilitated drug discovery, RNA-targeted small molecule therapies, and small molecule detection using fluorescent chemosensors. At Parke-Davis (now Pfizer), Czarnik directed novel research in combinatorial chemistry and led the first successful discovery of small molecule drugs that work via RNA binding. In 2003, Czarnik proposed a practical method for monitoring glucose levels in diabetic patients using chemosensors; his work contributed to the first FDA-approved continuous glucose monitor. Czarnik’s recent roles include CSO at Sensors for Medicine and Science Inc. (2001-2003) and co-founder of several biotechnology companies, including Deuteria Pharmaceuticals, Inc., DeuteRx, LLC, and Protia, LLC. He currently serves as an adjunct visiting professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.