Nancy Thornberry

Thornberry grew up in South Bend, Indiana.{{cite web|title=Discoverer's Award 2011|url=http://phrma-docs.phrma.org/sites/default/files/pdf/11-038_phrma_discaw2011b_0401.pdf|website=PhRMA|access-date=16 October 2017}} As of 1979, she earned a B.Sc. in Natural Science from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.{{cite web|title=Class of 1979|url=http://www.muhlenbergconnect.com/s/1570/index.aspx?sid=1570&gid=2&pgid=704|website=Muhlenberg College|access-date=13 October 2017}}{{cite book|title=Ciarla: An informal history of Muhlenberg College 1978-1979|date=1979|publisher=Muhlenberg College|location=Allentown, Pennsylvania|page=220|url=https://archive.org/stream/ciarla197900muhl#page/220/mode/2up/search/Thornberry|access-date=13 October 2017}}

Thornberry joined Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) in Rahway, New Jersey, as a biochemist in 1979. In 1999 she was appointed the director of enzymology, and in 2001 the director of metabolic disorders, with further promotions in 2007, 2009 and 2011.{{cite web|title=Intarcia Therapeutics Appoints Nancy Thornberry to Board of Directors|url=https://www.intarcia.com/media/press-releases/2013-dec-2-Nancy-Thornberry-Appointment.html|access-date=13 October 2017|website=Intarcia Therapeutics|date=December 2, 2013}}

At her retirement from Merck in 2013 Thornberry held the position of senior vice president and franchise head, diabetes and endocrinology.

While an independent consultant to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, Thornberry joined the boards of directors of Intarcia Therapeutics and Abide Therapeutics{{cite web|title=Abide Therapeutics Appoints Nancy Thornberry to Board of Directors|url=http://abidetx.com/abide-therapeutics-appoints-nancy-thornberry-to-board-of-directors/|website=Abide Therapeutics|date=July 29, 2014}} She subsequently joined the boards of directors of Schrodinger Therapeutics in 2019 {{cite press release | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190924005245/en/Schr%C3%B6dinger-Appoints-Drug-Discovery-Veteran-Nancy-Thornberry |title=Schrödinger Appoints Drug Discovery Veteran Nancy Thornberry to Board of Directors |access-date=24 September 2019 |publisher= Business Wire }} and Denali Therapeutics in 2021.{{cite web| url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/denali-therapeutics-announces-appointment-nancy-133000846.html |title=Denali Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Nancy Thornberry to Board of Directors |date=11 January 2021 |publisher= Yahoo Finance |access-date=11 January 2021 }},

As of November 1, 2015, Thornberry became CEO of Kallyope Inc. in New York City.{{cite news|last1=Khamsi|first1=Roxanne|title=Metabolism in Mind: New Insights into the "Gut–Brain Axis" Spur Commercial Efforts to Target It What if controlling the appetite were as easy as flipping a switch?|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/metabolism-in-mind-new-insights-into-the-gut-brain-axis-spur-commercial-efforts-to-target-it/|access-date=16 October 2017|work=Scientific American }}{{cite news|last1=Swetlitz|first1=Ike|title=This biotech startup wants to access your brain through the microbes in your gut|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/kallyope-startup-to-develop-brain-drugs-via-gut-2015-12?amp|access-date=16 October 2017|work=Business Insider|date=December 10, 2015}} In October, 2021, Thornberry assumed the post of Chair, R&D while also maintaining her seat on the company’s Board of Directors (succeeded by colleague from Merck, Jay Galeota, who became CEO of Kallyope.){{cite web|url=https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/kallyope-announces-ceo-transition-as-company-advances-to-its-next-stage-of-growth/|title=Kallyope Announces CEO Transition as Company Advances to its Next Stage of Growth |date=5 August 2021 | publisher=biospace news | access-date=5 August 2021}} In 2022, she joined the board of the New York Genome Center.{{cite web | url=https://www.nygenome.org/people/nancy-a-thornberry/ | title= Nancy Thornberry |publisher=New York Genome Center |access-date=2023-10-15}}

Thornberry's research areas include obesity, diabetes and protease biology.{{cite journal | journal=EMBO Journal | title=Protease signalling: the cutting edge | date=2012 | doi=10.1038/emboj.2012.42 | last1=Turk | first1=Boris | last2=Turk | first2=Dušan | last3=Turk | first3=Vito | volume=31 | issue=7 | pages=1630–1643 | pmid=22367392 | pmc=3321211 }} Her work has led to the development of drug candidates including FDA-approved treatments for Type 2 diabetes.{{cite web | url=https://www.citybiz.co/article/415490/kallyope-receives-8-2-million-grant-from-gates-foundation/ | title=Kallyope Receives $8.2 Million Grant from Gates Foundation | date=11 May 2023 | publisher=Citybiz |access-date= 11 May 2023}}

Thornberry was involved in early enzymology research on Lisinopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor used for the treatment of hypertension.{{cite journal|last1=Bull|first1=HG|last2=Thornberry|first2=NA|last3=Cordes|first3=EH|title=Purification of angiotensin-converting enzyme from rabbit lung and human plasma by affinity chromatography.|journal=The Journal of Biological Chemistry|date=10 March 1985|volume=260|issue=5|pages=2963–72|doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)89460-1|pmid=2982846|doi-access=free}}

Thornberry also helped to identify Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1) as the target of ezetimibe, an inhibitor of cholesterol absorption.{{cite journal|last1=Garcia-Calvo|first1=M.|last2=Lisnock|first2=J.|last3=Bull|first3=H. G.|last4=Hawes|first4=B. E.|last5=Burnett|first5=D. A.|last6=Braun|first6=M. P.|last7=Crona|first7=J. H.|last8=Davis|first8=H. R.|last9=Dean|first9=D. C.|last10=Detmers|first10=P. A.|last11=Graziano|first11=M. P.|last12=Hughes|first12=M.|last13=MacIntyre|first13=D. E.|last14=Ogawa|first14=A.|last15=O'Neill|first15=K. A.|last16=Iyer|first16=S. P. N.|last17=Shevell|first17=D. E.|last18=Smith|first18=M. M.|last19=Tang|first19=Y. S.|last20=Makarewicz|first20=A. M.|last21=Ujjainwalla|first21=F.|last22=Altmann|first22=S. W.|last23=Chapman|first23=K. T.|last24=Thornberry|first24=N. A.|display-authors=3|title=The target of ezetimibe is Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1)|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=2005 |volume=102|issue=23|pages=8132–8137|doi=10.1073/pnas.0500269102|pmid=15928087|pmc=1149415|bibcode=2005PNAS..102.8132G|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Huff|first1=M. W.|last2=Pollex|first2=R. L.|last3=Hegele|first3=R. A.|title=NPC1L1: Evolution From Pharmacological Target to Physiological Sterol Transporter|journal=Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology|date=1 November 2006|volume=26|issue=11|pages=2433–2438|doi=10.1161/01.ATV.0000245791.53245.ee|pmid=16973966|doi-access=free}}

In 1992, her work on proteases led to the identification of the first caspase, caspase-1/Interleukin-1 converting enzyme (ICE). She determined that ICE was the cysteine protease responsible for IL-1β processing in monocytes.{{cite journal | vauthors = Thornberry NA, Bull HG, Calaycay JR, Chapman KT, Howard AD, Kostura MJ, Miller DK, Molineaux SM, Weidner JR, Aunins J | title = A novel heterodimeric cysteine protease is required for interleukin-1 beta processing in monocytes | journal = Nature | volume = 356 | issue = 6372 | pages = 768–74 | date = April 1992 | pmid = 1574116 | doi = 10.1038/356768a0 | bibcode = 1992Natur.356..768T | s2cid = 4310923 }}{{cite journal|last1=Thornberry|first1=Nancy A.|last2=Molineaux|first2=Susan M.|title=Interleukin-1P converting enzyme: A novel cysteine protease required for IL-lP production and implicated in programmed cell death|journal=Protein Science|volume=4|pages=3–12|issue=4|date=1995|doi=10.1002/pro.5560040102|pmid=7773174|pmc=2142972}}

Thornberry also developed a novel method for analyzing protease specificities in combinatorial libraries of positional scanning substrates.{{cite journal|last1=Thornberry|first1=Nancy A.|last2=Rano|first2=Thomas A.|last3=Peterson|first3=Erin P.|last4=Rasper|first4=Dita M.|last5=Timkey|first5=Tracy|last6=Garcia-Calvo|first6=Margarita|last7=Houtzager|first7=Vicky M.|last8=Nordstrom|first8=Penny A.|last9=Roy|first9=Sophie|last10=Vaillancourt|first10=John P.|last11=Chapman|first11=Kevin T.|last12=Nicholson|first12=Donald W.|title=A Combinatorial Approach Defines Specificities of Members of the Caspase Family and Granzyme B|journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry|date=18 July 1997|volume=272|issue=29|pages=17907–17911|doi=10.1074/jbc.272.29.17907|pmid=9218414|doi-access=free}} Her work has led to the broader study of proteases in apoptosis.{{cite journal|last1=Thornberry|first1=N. A|title=The caspase family of cysteine proteases|journal=British Medical Bulletin|date=1 January 1997|volume=53|issue=3|pages=478–490|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a011625|pmid=9374032|url=https://academic.oup.com/bmb/article/53/3/478/285126/The-caspase-family-of-cysteine-proteases|access-date=16 October 2017|doi-access=free}}{{cite book|editor-last1=Schwartz|editor-first1=Lawrence M.|editor-last2=Ashwell|editor-first2=Jonathan|title=Apoptosis|date=2001|publisher=Academic Press|location=San Diego, California|isbn=978-0125441650|page=15|series=Methods in Cell Biology|volume=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BbcwgWWwboC&pg=PA15|access-date=16 October 2017}}

{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIIGnApUZNE “PhRMA11 Discoverers Award Winner 2011”], PhRMAPress | video2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByJsKyZ1oyo “Bench to bedside -- discovery of JANUVIA (Sitagliptin)”], Ann Weber & Nancy Thornberry, TEDxNJIT }}

Beginning in 1999, Thornberry led the biology team for the development of Januvia™ (generic: sitagliptin), a once-a-day oral medication that inhibits the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) enzyme and improves glucose tolerance to treat Type 2 diabetes. Ann E. Weber led the corresponding chemistry team for the project.{{cite book|last1=Cordes|first1=Eugene H.|title=Hallelujah moments : tales of drug discovery|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=9780199337149|pages=207–|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lG2JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA207|access-date=9 October 2017}} The drug was approved by the FDA in October 2006. Janumet™, a drug combining sitagliptin and metformin was also approved, in April 2007. In 2007, the research team at Merck received the Prix Galien USA award for their work on Januvia™.{{cite news|last1=Stowe|first1=Gene|title=Distinguished alumna lecture is like a "mini course in medicinal chemistry"|url=http://science.nd.edu/news/distinguished-alumna-lecture-is-like-a-mini-course-in-medicinal-chemistry-2/|access-date=9 October 2017|work=University of Notre Dame News|date=April 10, 2008}}

The Januvia™ project was the first project at Merck to be co-led solely by women and the first project co-led solely by women to win the Discoverers Award.

{{blockquote| "Discovering an important new medicine is the goal of every person who works in pharmaceutical research. Until it actually happens, though, there is no way to know how absolutely thrilling it is, and how incredibly and deeply satisfying it feels."{{cite web|title=Skill, Vision and Effort Rewarded|url=http://www.merck.com/research/discoverers/home.html|website=Merck|access-date=13 October 2017}}}}

At Kallyope Inc., drug discovery focuses on the study of hormonal and neural communication between the gut and the brain to better understand and improve health and nutrition.{{cite news|last1=Carroll|first1=John|title=In a win for NYC, gut-brain biotech Kallyope launches with $44M|url=http://www.fiercebiotech.com/venture-capital/a-win-for-nyc-gut-brain-biotech-kallyope-launches-44m|access-date=16 October 2017|work=Fierce Biotech|date=December 10, 2015}} Kallyope currently has two programs in clinical trials, one targeting metabolic circuits for diabetes and obesity, while the other targets gut barrier function with potential relevance for inflammatory bowel disease and several other diseases. The company also has programs aimed at gastrointestinal, CNS and inflammatory disorders.{{ cite web |url=https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/kallyope-obesity-diabetes-trial/ |title=Kallyope to expand its metabolic disorder programme globally |date=25 October 2023 | publisher=Clinical Trials Arena |access-date=25 October 2023}}

Thornberry also serves on the Boards of Directors of Kallyope Inc, Schrodinger Therapeutics, which employs computational biology for the identification of small molecules therapeutics, and Denali Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on neurodegeneration. She is also on the board of the New York Genome Center, and a member of the NYC Mayor’s Life Science Advisory Council.{{cite web |url=https://endpts.com/vertex-taps-longtime-commercial-lead-to-fill-two-year-coo-vacancy-nancy-thornberry-set-for-different-role-at-kallyope-with-an-old-friend-from-merck-waiting-in-the-wings/ |title=Vertex taps longtime commercial lead to fill two-year COO vacancy; Nancy Thornberry set for different role at Kallyope with an old friend from Merck waiting in the wings |publisher=Endpoints News |access-date=6 August 2021}}

• 2013, Women in STEM honoree, Liberty Science Center (LSC){{cite web|title=Women in STEM honored at LSC annual luncheon|website=LSC News|publisher=Liberty Science Center|url=https://lsc.org/news-and-social/news/women-in-stem-honored-at-lsc-annual-luncheon|date=December 11, 2013}}
• 2011, Discoverer’s Award, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), with Ann E. Weber,{{cite news|title=Women Scientists Honored For New Diabetes Oral Medication|url=http://www.phrma.org/press-release/two-women-scientists-honored-with-discoverers-award-for-first-new-oral-medication-for-diabetes-in-over-a-decade|access-date=9 October 2017|work=PhRMA|date=April 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517082046/https://www.phrma.org/press-release/two-women-scientists-honored-with-discoverers-award-for-first-new-oral-medication-for-diabetes-in-over-a-decade|archive-date=17 May 2018|url-status=dead}} for work which "has been of special benefit to humankind".
• 2011, Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award, Research and Development Council of New Jersey{{cite news|title=Industry Researchers Honored with Coveted Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award|url=http://hinj.org/industry-researchers-honored-with-coveted-thomas-alva-edison-patent-award/|access-date=16 October 2017|work=HealthCare Institute of New Jersey|date=November 16, 2011}}
• 2010, Heroes of Chemistry Award (ACS) with Ann E. Weber and Joseph Armstrong{{cite web|title=New Heroes of Chemistry invented medicines that help millions of people|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2010/acs-presspac-august-19-2010/new-heroes-of-chemistry-invented-medicines-that-help-millions-of-people.html|website=American Chemical Society|access-date=August 19, 2010}}{{cite web|title=Heroes of Chemistry Award|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/awards/industry/heroes/recipients.html|website=American Chemical Society|access-date=9 October 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Ainsworth|first1=Susan J.|title=ACS Honors Heroes Of Chemistry 2010|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|date=October 11, 2010|volume=88|issue=41|page=43|url=https://pubs.acs.org/cen/acsnews/88/8841acs1.html|access-date=13 October 2017|doi=10.1021/cen-v088n041.p043}}
• 2008, Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award, Muhlenberg College{{cite news|last1=Prohaska|first1=Stacey|title=Victory at Last: The Muhlenberg Grad Behind an Important Diabetes Treatment|url=http://www.muhlenberg.edu/media/contentassets/pdf/about/magazine/winter2012.pdf|access-date=16 October 2017|work=Muhlenberg, The Magazine|issue=Winter|date=2012}}
• 2007, Prix Galien USA award to the Merck research team for Januvia™{{cite web|title=Discovery of the Decade|url=http://candidates.prix-galien-usa.com/docs/Discovery.pdf|website=The Prix Galien USA Awards|access-date=9 October 2017}}
• 2007, Merck Directors Award for work on Januvia™
• Merck Presidential Fellowship

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Category:Living people

Category:Muhlenberg College alumni

Category:21st-century American chemists

Category:American women chemists

Category:American women chief executives

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century American women scientists