Edmund Ellsworth, Ph.D.

Director, Medicinal Chemistry Facility

Dr. Ellsworth has over 25 years of experience as a synthetic and medicinal chemist supporting from early drug discovery to development as a scientist and leader in the pharmaceutical industry (Parke-Davis, Pfizer and Zoetis) with a clear understanding of the steps and practices involved in the drug discovery process, including the development of new and novel chemistries to meet the needs of each therapeutic application. He is an expert in the design and structure-activity-relationships of “druggable” chemical matter, which includes compound design for activity, dose (potency & clearance), safety mitigation, pharmacokinetics / pharmacodynamics / toxicokinetics. His experience includes the identification and development of novel dermatology, antibacterial, antiviral and a diversity of other human targets.

Dr. Ellsworth is the director of the MSU Medicinal Chemistry Facility collaborating with MSU faculty and outside collaborators for chemical biology, high-throughput screening outcome triage, lead development, template hopping, structure activity relationship (SAR) development, structure-based design, route development, support and scale-up. The medicinal chemistry facility was established with the support of multiple units at MSU to assist researchers to bridge the drug discovery gap that often exists between basic research and preclinical drug development and other commercial applications. The lab has a breadth of expertise in small molecules, peptides, natural products, and macrolides using modeling, chemoinformatics, traditional synthesis strategies and parallel medicinal chemistry methods.

His formative years were spent at California State University, Chico, where he earned a B.S. in Chemistry.  He then completed his Ph.D., in organic chemistry, at the University of California,, Santa Barbara under the direction of Bruce Lipshutz.  He then completed an NIH post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University working with Dr. E.J. Corey, pursuing metal-mediated large ring cyclizations.