Robert Kolakowski, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Medicinal Chemistry at Novo Nordisk

Speaker

Robert Kolakowski began his role as the Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Dicerna-Novo Nordisk in 2020. In this role, he leads efforts in delivering and chemically optimizing oligonucleotide therapeutics. Prior to this, Robert served as the Head of Chemistry at Aro Biotherapeutics for three years. There, his teams research was pivotal during their $88 million Series A financing round. His team also played a significant role in advancing their key transferrin targeting Centyrin-GYS1 siRNA conjugate, ABX1001, to Phase 1 clinical trials. From 2010 to 2018, Robert spent eight years at Seattle Genetics, focusing on the development of ADC payloads and delivery technologies. His notable research includes work on the PDB payloads used in Vadastuximab talirine, a CD33 targeting ADC for acute myeloid leukemia, AML, that progressed to Phase III trials. After earning his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Rutgers University in 2009 under the mentorship of Lawrence Williams, Robert undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in 2010 at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, guided by K.C. Nicolaou.