Frank Bruzzese

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT FRANK BRUZZESE

I am a highly motivated and enthusiastic scientist with extensive experience across a broad range of discovery efforts in the biotech industry, including target validation, biochemical assay development, enzyme kinetics, protein-ligand binding characterization, lead optimization, MOA determination, and IND document preparation. Throughout my career, I have had some exceptional opportunities to work within cross-functional teams leading to clinically proven medicines. Specifically, my work on the NINLARO team was personally and scientifically highly motivating- confirming that my individual contributions toward developing novel medicines within an innovative group can truly help transform patient lives. I am excited to bring my strong and diverse scientific and drug discovery background to new career endeavors.Scientific Highlights• Determined the kinetic properties of Takeda’s proteasome inhibitor NINLARO (ixazomib) and how differences in drug residence times impact SAR.• Led cross-functional effort with colleagues in biochemistry, structural biology, and chemistry to correlate kinetic and biophysical data with in vivo data for TAK-243, an inhibitor of the ubiquitin activating enzyme (UAE).• Designed and formulated a strategy to resolve a disconnect between biochemical and structural biology data for TAK-924 (Pevonedistat) using high resolution isothermal titration calorimetry.• Resolved differences in the mechanism of activation between canonical and non-canonical E1 families through direct binding assays leading to new insights for inhibitor design.• Developed a universal fully automated high throughput screening technique for charcoal based adenosine triphosphate: pyrophosphate exchange assay for kinetic characterization of inhibitors of E1 activating enzymes.• Led an international collaboration involving the set-up and execution of a start up biotechnology company (Althexis).