Robert Zamboni

Dr. Zamboni brings over 40 years of drug discovery experience to the Pardes Scientific Advisory Board. “Four decades in this business have taught me that there are no hard rules, just guidelines. We learn from our failures. It is very much an experimental science.” Those experiments have resulted in his being the recipient of multiple awards and prizes, including the Lionel Boulet Prize in 1999 (Prix du Québec); the Prix Galien in 2000 and the Heroes of Chemistry award in 2003.

Dr. Zamboni first joined Merck Frosst-Canada as a post-doctoral fellow in 1980 where he was instrumental in developing SINGULAIR™ which helped millions of patients suffering from asthma and allergic rhinitis. While at Merck, Dr. Zamboni was also instrumental in the development of VIOXX™ a selective COX2 inhibitor for inflammation and pain. During his 25 year career at Merck Frosst, Dr. Zamboni rose from bench chemist to Vice President of MedChem and was involved in over two dozen programs. These experiences helped to shape his belief in the importance of integrating medicinal chemists into all aspects of drug discovery in order to help identify the critical issues early in a drug discovery program.

After retiring from Merck Frosst Dr. Zamboni started ZCS, a consulting company where he has provided input and strategic direction to over 50 drug discovery programs including MDM2, ORFAN (a HOAX1 inhibitor), MoST (a KLK5 /KLK7 inhibitor), COA (with St.Jude) and KRAS.