John Moffat - Distinguished Scientist - Technology, Biochemical and Cellular Pharmacology, Drug Discovery

John Moffat

Distinguished Scientist - Technology, Biochemical and Cellular Pharmacology, Drug Discovery

"Our goal is to discover drug candidates with molecular mechanisms of action that give the best chance of translating to clinical benefit. To achieve this we must walk the line between reductionist, mechanistic approaches and black-box phenotypic profiling, between chemistry and biology. It’s a fascinating and exciting space to be in."
21
Years at Genentech
44
Publications at Genentech

I got my B.Sc.(hons) and PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Otago, New Zealand, studying ribosomal stop codon recognition. This was followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Washington University Medical School, St Louis MO, studying CSF1R signaling and breast cancer and UC Santa Cruz, where I worked on placental endocrinology, mammary gland biology and cancer. Prior to joining Genentech in 2003, I worked at Sugen characterizing functions of novel kinase drug targets. In my time at Genentech I’ve been part of many great small molecule project teams, including leading the Project Team for kinase inhibitor projects from hit-to-lead through to nomination of a clinical candidate. My current focus is on using chemical biology and informatics tools to understand the biological mechanisms of known inhibitors as well as to identify novel drug targets.

Featured Publication

Opportunities and challenges in phenotypic drug discovery: an industry perspective.

Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2017 Aug;16(8):531-543.

Moffat JG, Vincent F, Lee JA, Eder J, Prunotto M.