550: Developing Novel Drugs to Treat Autoimmune Disease and Inflammation - Dr. Paul Changelian

Dr. Paul Changelian is Vice President of Biology at Aclaris Therapeutics and Director of Biology at Confluence Life Sciences. He is working to discover new drugs to treat autoimmune disease and inflammation in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and multiple sclerosis. In these conditions, the immune system inadvertently attacks cells in your body. He and his team are working to identify and test small molecule drugs that patients could take by pill that would inhibit this abnormal activation of the immune system to slow down damage to joints or other areas that may be under attack. They have also recently begun working on potential cancer treatments that can impact inflammation around tumors to improve the body’s ability to clear tumors. Some of Paul’s passions outside of science include exercising, walking around in nature, and music. He listens to hard rock and jazz music, and he enjoys playing jazz music on the trumpet. Paul received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his Ph.D. in immunology from Harvard University in Cambridge. Afterwards, he conducted postdoctoral research in neurobiology at Washington University in St. Louis. Paul then worked in various roles at Pfizer for about 18 years. He served briefly on the faculty at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before becoming Director of Biology at Lycera Corporation. From 2012 - 2014, Paul served as Senior Director of Pharmacology at Infinity Pharmaceuticals before accepting his current positions.