Education
- B.S. (Honors), 1970, California Institute of Technology
- Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, Stanford University
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1974-1977, Cornell University
Biography
Dr. Glenn D. Prestwich is Presidential Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Emeritus and Founding Special Presidential Assistant for Faculty Entrepreneurism, and directed two Utah Centers of Excellence: the Center for Cell Signaling (1997 - 2002) and the Center for Therapeutic Biomaterials (2004 - 2008). His passion for translational research and scholarship led to his appointment as director of the Entrepreneurial Faculty Scholars program at the U of Utah (2008 - current). He was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2014 - ) a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2005 - ), and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2018 - ).
He has launched over eleven small life science companies in the last 25 years: Clear Solutions Biotech (1994 - 2001); Echelon Biosciences, Inc. (CSO, 1997 - 2003); Sentrx Surgical, Inc. (CSO, 2003 - 2004); Carbylan BioSurgery, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA)(2004 - 2012); Sentrx Animal Care, Inc. (Salt Lake City)(2005 - 2023); Glycosan BioSystems, Inc. (Salt Lake City) (CSO, 2005 - 2011); GlycoMira Therapeutics, Inc. (CSO, Salt Lake City) (2008 - current); Metallosensors, Inc. (CEO, 2011 - 2014): Deuteria Agrochemicals LLC (2013 - 2018); Deuteria Biomaterials LLC (2013 - 2020); MxDx Biosystems (2020 - current), and Maana Discoveries (2020 - current). His consulting company Clear Solutions Biomedical provides service to over a dozen small biotechnology companies, to intellectual property attorneys, and to HTL Biotechnology (Javené, France).
He received the Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology for 2006, was awarded the 1998 Paul Dawson Biotechnology Award and the 2008 Volwiler Research Award of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. In 2010, he received the University of Utah Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award, as well as the 2010 Rooster Prize of the International Society for Hyaluronan Science for outstanding contributions to hyaluronan-derived products. During his 44 years as a faculty member, he has published over 650 technical papers, patents, and book chapters, and has trained over 125 postgraduate scientists. In 2011, he was invited to serve as a member of the editorial advisory board for Science Translational Medicine. His university research programs included (i) new reagents for lipid signaling in cell biology and cancer treatment, (ii) biomaterials for wound repair, cartilage repair, tissue engineering, scar-free healing, and toxicology and xenograft models, and (iii) sulfated glycosaminoglycan analogues as inflammation modulators for clinical use.
Professional Experience
- 1974 – 1976; ICIPE, P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya; Research Scientist in Chemistry Unit
- 1977 – 1996; Assistant, Associate, Full Professor of Chemistry, SUNY, Stony Brook, New York
- 1991 – 1992; Visiting Professor, Department of Chemistry, Harvard University
- 1992 – 1996; Professor of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology, SUNY, Stony Brook, New York
- 1992 – 1996; Director, Center for Biotechnology, SUNY, Stony Brook, New York
- 1996 – 2002; Chair, Medicinal Chemistry, The University of Utah
- 1996 – 2018; Research Professor of Biochemistry; Adjunct Professor of Chemistry and of Bioengineering, The University of Utah; Adjunct Professor of Biology (Utah State University, Logan, UT)
- 1996 – 2018; Presidential Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, The University of Utah (Emeritus 2018)
- 2001 – 2005; Chief Scientific Officer, Echelon Biosciences Incorporated, Salt Lake City, UT
- 2004 – 2005; Chief Scientific Officer, Sentrx Surgical, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT
- 2005 – 2007; Senior Scientific Advisor, Carbylan BioSurgery, Inc., Palo Alto, CA
- 2006 – 2011; Chief Scientific Officer, Glycosan BioSystems, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT
- 2006 – 2023; Scientific Advisor, Sentrx Animal Care, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT
- 2008 – current; Scientific Advisor, Echelon Biosciences-Frontier Scientific, Salt Lake City, UT
- 2008 – current; Chief Scientific Officer, GlycoMira, LLC and GlycoMira Therapeutics, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT
- 2011 – 2014; Scientific Advisor, BioTime, Inc., Alameda, CA
- 2012 – 2014; Chief Executive Officer, Metallosensors, Salt Lake City, UT
- 2015 – 2018; Chancellor’s Distinguished Visiting Professor, Washington State University, WA
- 2014 – 2018; Manager, Deuteria Agrochemicals LLC, Reno, NV
- 2014 – 2022; Manager, Deuteria Biomaterials LLC, Reno, NV
- 2014 – current; Adjunct Professor of Surgery, Divn. of Otolaryngology, University of Utah, UT (Emeritus)
- 2017 – 2019; Chief Scientific Officer and Executive VP, Chemistry, Symic Bio, Inc.
- 2018 – 2021; President’s Distinguished Professor, Washington State University (Emeritus 2022)
- 2020 – current; President, Matrix Diagnostics Biosystems, Inc, Spokane, WA
- 2020 – 2022; Director, sp3nw, Spokane, WA
- 2020 – current; Science & Innovation Advisor, HTL Biotechnology, Paris, France
- 2021 – current; Vice President, Maana Discoveries, Inc., Missoula, MT