Esther Martinborough

Dr. Esther Martinborough, Senior Vice President of Research, joined Escient Pharmaceuticals in August 2018. Prior to that, Dr. Martinborough was Executive Director of Research at Receptos-Celgene from 2015 to 2018, where she headed the chemistry, biology and pharmacokinetics efforts focused on the selection of strategic new drug discovery programs in neurology and metabolic diseases. From 2008 to 2015, she led the chemistry efforts at Receptos, resulting in the successful discovery of ozanimod for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel diseases. These efforts resulted in a pipeline portfolio of clinical and nonclinical assets and responsibility for the non-clinical sections of regulatory filings. Dr. Martinborough also held positions at Vertex Pharmaceutical developing novel approaches to treating pain and at Ligand Pharmaceuticals focused on hormonal disfunctions. She holds a Ph.D. from the Swiss Institute of Technology, Zurich, and performed post-doctoral studies at the University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign.