Robert J. Ternansky

Robert J. Ternansky, Ph.D. is an experienced medicinal chemist and currently serves as Senior Director of Translational Chemistry at Retrophin, Inc. and Lecturer at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Ternansky was previously the Senior Vice President of Chemistry at Attenuon, LLC where he led the chemistry efforts that resulted in the advancement of two compounds through Phase II clinical trials in cancer. Prior to Attenuon, Dr. Ternansky served as Director of Medicinal Chemistry at IDUN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in San Diego where he co-invented a lead series of caspase inhibitors for the prevention of apoptotic cell death. Prior to his work at IDUN, Dr. Ternansky held the position of Associate Director of Inflammation at La Jolla Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he led the analytical team on the pre-clinical development of LJP-394, a toleragen for the treatment of lupus, currently in Phase III trials. Prior to joining La Jolla Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Ternansky was a Research Scientist and Team Leader at Eli Lilly and Co., where he invented LY193239, the first pyrazolidinone antibacterial agent to be developed for clinical investigation. He was also a member of the pre-clinical discovery/development team for loracarbef (Lorabid), the first marketed 1-carbacephalosporin antibacterial agent. Finally, Dr. Ternansky is a co-inventor of trovirdine, a NNRT inhibitor of HIV-1 RT, which progressed through Phase II trials for the treatment of HIV infection. Dr. Ternansky received his Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from The Ohio State University under the direction of Professor Leo A. Paquette and completed his post-doctoral training with Professor Paul A. Wender at Stanford University.