Doug E. Frantz has been appointed the new vice chancellor for innovation and commercialization at Washington University in St. Louis, effective Jan. 1, according to Chancellor Andrew D. Martin and David H. Perlmutter, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.
Frantz is currently the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Endowed Chair and a professor and assistant chair in the Department of Chemistry at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).
When he joins WashU, Frantz also will be a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at WashU Medicine.
“In this role, Doug will be working with senior leaders across the university to further catalyze the university’s translation of world-class discovery capabilities into commercial opportunities for the betterment of humanity and the world,” Martin said in announcing the appointment.
Frantz earned a PhD in organic chemistry from Texas A&M University in 1998 and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, where he researched and published discoveries about a class of organic compounds called aldehydes.
Frantz also has experience in the private sector. He worked in research for Merck from 2000-05, helping move early drug discoveries into clinical trials for therapies to treat chronic pain, cancer and more.
Frantz returned to Texas in 2005 to join the biochemistry faculty of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where he helped initiate several drug discovery programs. He was recruited to join the chemistry department at UTSA in 2009 and has helped that department become a leader in organic chemistry research.
During his time at UTSA, he co-founded the Center for Innovative Drug Discovery, a joint initiative with the medical school at UT Health San Antonio, which has won over $30 million in funding since it launched in 2012. He also helped raise more than $12 million in philanthropic support for endowed faculty positions and chemistry research facilities.
At WashU, “Dr. Frantz will provide strategic leadership in the form of a comprehensive universitywide plan for innovation, including new drugs, biologics, devices, software and other inventions and for support of the entrepreneurial activities underway or planned within each of the schools,” said Perlmutter, the George and Carol Bauer Dean of the medical school and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor. “Innovation is a critically important part of WashU’s intention to contribute to the community of St Louis, Missouri and the Midwest by leading to new companies and technologies. This is why, in my role as executive vice chancellor, I have been tasked with facilitating the initiatives that Dr. Frantz will be accelerating.”
In addition, Frantz will represent the university in all matters relating to commercialization and entrepreneurial priorities. He will provide oversight for the Office of Technology Management, the Center for Drug Discovery, the Needleman Program for Innovation and Commercialization and business development and industry partnerships.
Frantz’s research has received funding from various corners, ranging from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation to the private Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He also has longstanding collaborations with pharmaceutical companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly. Frantz was also a co-founder of Bexar Biomedical, a startup focused on developing new therapies to treat chronic pain.
Among the honors he has received are being elected a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors; the Eli Lilly Outstanding Open Innovation Drug Discovery Collaborator Award; and the Thieme Chemistry Journals Award.
