25 years drug discovery at Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) including 17 years preclinical project leadership in area of antivirals (HSV, HIV, HCV). Member of BI international Medicinal Chemistry Consultant Network reviewing and providing guidance on projects across therapeutic areas, to promote cross-site fertilization, process improvements, networking of scientists, knowledge sharing.Project leadership:managing multidisciplinary research teams (10-30 medicinal chemists and CROs) Responsible for project strategies from Lead Identification through Lead Optimization and selection of Clinical Candidates. Defines and coordinates activities with biology, DMPK, Process Research and CMC disciplines.Project representation to international review committees. Responsible for project transition from Research to Development, acts as Research representative up to Phase 1 transition.Project accomplishments: identification of 5 development candidates (one Phase 1b Clinical Proof of Concept, a follow-up in Phase 3 and a third Phase 1-ready. Medicinal chemistry skills: optimization of small molecules derived from screening, lit-to-lead strategies, fragment screening and structure-based rational drug design including peptidomimetics. Expert knowledge of potency, ADME and PK optimization of lead molecules leveraging state-of-the-art technologies (protein NMR, X-ray crystallography, QSAR analysis, visualization softwares such as MOE, Spotfire). Experience in process development and scale-up of drug candidates up to kg scale. Experience in developing and writing intellectual property portfolios.Training and mentoring of junior staff (Msc and Phd), promoting principles of continuous improvement in drug discovery by providing project consulting and sharing good-practice principles.Promoting ties with universities through Ambassadorship and Sponsorship Programs.96 Publications and 30 patent/patent applicationsSpecialties: Medicinal Chemistry (lead identification, Lead optimization, Development candidate nomination)Project leadershipSkills: expert knowledge of medicinal chemistry, DMPK, CMC, process research, intellectual propertyConsulting, knowlege sharing, process improvementsNetworking with universities