Craig W. Lindsley, Ph.D., FRSC, FASPET, FAAS, FNAI
William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine
Executive Director of Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery
University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Pharmacology
Director of Medicinal Chemistry
Founding Editor of ACS Chemical Neuroscience
Editor-in-Chief of ACS Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
- : craig.lindsley@vanderbilt.edu
- : (615) 322-8700
- :
100 Cool Springs Innovation Park
Vanderbilt University/WCNDD
393 Nichol Mill Lane, Room 1008
Franklin, Tennessee - 37067 - : More Information
- : Craig W. Lindsley, Ph.D., FRSC, FASPET, FAAS, FNAI - CV
Education
California State University at Chico, 1992
B.S Chemistry
University of California at Santa Barbara, 1996
Ph.D. Chemistry
Biosketch and Research Interests
Craig W. Lindsley, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery (WCNDD), a clinical stage biotech, nestled within the University. Craig is also University Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, Chemistry & Biochemistry and holds the William K. Warren Jr. Chair in Medicine.
Craig has pioneered the concept of GPCR allosteric modulation, developing key proof of concept compounds and clinical candidates. Craig holds over 130 issued US patents and has published over 615 manuscripts and another 225 published patent applications. Of the publications, there are numerous which detail the first-in-class tools and POC for M1 PAMs, mGlu5 PAMs, mGlu4 PAMs, M5 NAMs, M4 antagonists, PLD, multiple ion channels and transporters, as well as the first allosteric Akt kinase inhibitors (and over 20 clinical candidates). As co-founder and Director of the WCNDD, Craig has raised over $390 million in licensing and research support from NIH, Foundations and companies in the past 18 years.
In 2016, and without an industry partner, Craig oversaw IND-enabling studies of a novel M1 PAM that was awarded an open IND, and the Phase I trial (SAD) was completed at Vanderbilt prior to licensing to Acadia. In 2018, he was a founder of Appello Pharmaceuticals, and in 2021, saw his mGlu4 PAM entered Phase I clinical trials. Beyond this, Craig is the founding Editor-in-Chief of ACS Chemical Neuroscience (2009-2020), interim Editor-in-Chief of ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science (2020-2021) and current Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. He has been the recipient of major awards from ACS and ASPET, including induction into the ACS MEDI Hall of Fame, and named a Fellow of the American Society of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, the Royal Society for Chemistry, the National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.