Hinge Moments

A physician-scientist I have long admired, David Reese , insightfully positions the present era of biomedicine at a “hinge moment”. For the last 20 years, the steady convergence of historically disparate scientific disciplines has availed unprecedented insights into human biology. Indeed, therapeutics are almost uniformly developed at disciplinary intersections: mass spec target deconvolution after phenotypic screening, computer-assisted drug discovery driving lead optimization, radioligand therapies, etc. But something feels different now. While the mention of Machine Learning at medical congresses may raise as many heart rates as eyebrows, innovations such as AlphaFold, ChatGPT and Midjourney unambiguously predict for momentous near-term lift from computational verticals leveraging Artificial Intelligence. We sense that we’re at the end of the beginning of harnessing the power of compute for human health.

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Life brings hinge moments, too, sometimes associated with a comparably momentous lift. A year ago, I returned to clinical practice on the Bone Marrow Transplant service at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. I can’t easily describe how much this time has meant to me. To work again among my true heroes in medicine. To care for patients amidst the impossible physical challenges and harrowing complications associated with BMT. To visit the bedside with early-career clinicians, trainees and students. To witness the humbling strength it takes to face a cancer diagnosis, room after room on rounds. To all who warmly welcomed me back on the wards, in particular our Division Chief, Dr. Robert Soiffer, and the legendary Brigham and Farber BMT Nurses, thank you. As much as the practice of medicine has changed, in the most vital human ways it remains precisely and powerfully just the same.

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The time on the wards provided a visceral reminder that we can do so much better for patients – toxic preparatory chemotherapy, complex cell products, antiquated pathogen detection assays, ineffectual medicines for sepsis, undiagnosable pulmonary complications, and most of all unacceptable options amidst relapsed disease. We have much to celebrate amidst engineered cell solutions to Pediatric B-ALL and Sickle Cell Disease, but so much more work to do to make definitive medicines accessible for patients worldwide.

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Recently, I quietly learned that Dave Reese would be stepping down from his storied tenure as Head of R&D at Amgen, to serve as Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Dave and colleagues will stitch first-world compute deep into the fabric of all functions at Amgen. I had the pleasure of interacting closely with Dave through the dark hours of the pandemic, trading insights into pandemic preparedness and non-competitive challenges our organizations faced as we kept the lights on in our respective laboratories. He is brilliant, articulate, measured, kind and ridiculously fit. Congratulations, Dave, on your legendary tenure and your next chapter.

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Bob Bradway today announced that I have joined his leadership team as Executive Vice President of R&D, and Chief Scientific Officer.

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I am overjoyed by this chance to work for an industry leader I deeply admire, alongside a high-performing team of true experts, to advance incisive therapeutic solutions for patients with serious illnesses. The pipeline is robust, the people are exceptional and I am blown away by the industry-leading sophistication in biotherapeutics, as well as bleeding-edge LMW discovery capabilities (induced proximity and covalency FTW). I cannot wait to start this coming Monday, and look forward to learning more about people, priorities and ways of working. Bringing the full insight of an R&D organization together with Commercial leadership as partners, lifted by Technology and undistracted by ego, is a winning formula.?

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Thanks to all who brought so much joy, reflection, science, sport, music, friendship and love to this year. I will not soon forget the lessons at the bedside, the consolidation of learning through teaching, the giant bluefin tuna of Nova Scotia, the simple joy of family dinner and the perfect silence of middle school drop-off.

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