Dennis joined Trevena in March 2008 as VP and Head, Chemistry. Previous to this appointment Dennis was a Director in the Oncology Center of Excellence Drug Discovery in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) where he was employed for 17 years. While at GSK he identified clinical candidates and supported programs in oncology, bone and cartilage, inflammation, autoimmune, and endocrine disease areas. Specific research projects included lead optimization of AKT inhibitors, Tie2/VEGFR inhibitors, Calcium receptor antagonists, VR4 agonists, Cathepsin K inhibitors, Cathepsin B inhibitors, Cathepsin S inhibitors, Src SH2 domain antagonists, Steroid 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, rapamycin analogs, and FKBP ligands. He obtained his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Yale University in 1991, under the direction of Prof. Samuel J. Danishefsky. His thesis research project was on the synthesis of analogs of calicheamicin and esperamicin, members of the enediyne anti-tumor natural products. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from MIT in 1986 and conducted undergraduate research in Rick L. Danheiser’s group by developing an annulation method of preparing highly-substituted furans from allenylsilanes and acyl chlorides.
