Chengguo Dong

Chengguo Dong is a highly experienced medicinal chemist currently serving as the Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Protagonist Therapeutics since January 2024. Previously, Chengguo held the same title at Kezar Life Sciences from August 2021 to October 2023, where leadership of a multidisciplinary team led to the advancement of novel Sec61 protein secretion inhibitors and the delivery of the pre-clinical candidate molecule KZR-540. At Pliant Therapeutics, from April 2018 to July 2021, Chengguo directed a cross-functional team that discovered a clinical candidate for the αVβ1 PET program, crucial for fibrosis imaging. Earlier experience includes serving as Associate Director of Chemistry at Allergan and Research Fellow at Vitae Pharmaceuticals, where key contributions to MALT1 inhibitor and Menin-MLL inhibitors programs, respectively, were made. Chengguo holds a PhD in Chemistry from The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Organic Chemistry at Harvard University.