Blaine Knight to join the Southern Research Institute as Vice President of Drug Discovery

Life Science Partner recruits former Vice President, Globalization Projects and Preclinical Development for GlaxoSmithKline

Life Science Partner announces the recruitment of Blaine Knight, an experienced scientist and drug discovery executive, to the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Alabama.  Southern Research Institute is an independent, not-for-profit center for scientific research providing innovative leadership in scientific discovery, drug development, engineering, aerospace, materials, environmental and energy research, chemical and biological defense, and homeland security.   With a focus on the discovery and advancement of new, small-molecule therapeutics from the design stage to the clinic, Southern Research Institute’s Drug Discovery Research Division has accomplished innovative research in the areas of cancer, infectious disease and neuroscience.

Most recently, Knight was the Vice President, Globalization Projects and Preclinical Development for GlaxoSmithKline, where he developed a strategy for establishing R&D facilities in Asia and identified opportunities for outsourcing and innovative science from discovery to proof of concept from the American and European GSK sites in Asia.   Knight has held several executive positions at GSK within the Discovery Research Directorate including VP, Strategic Alliances; VP, Screening Sciences; and VP, Systems Research.  Prior to his roles at GSK, he held leadership positions in the Biochemistry Division at Glaxo Wellcome and in the Division of Molecular Sciences at the Glaxo Research Institute.

“Blaine is a strong and talented scientist with global understanding of the process of discovery,” noted Cindi Roberts, vice president of Life Science Partner.  “He will successfully build upon the Institute’s considerable platform and further enhance their reputation as one of the nation’s premier drug discovery organizations.”

Knight received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and earned his Doctorate in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland in College Park.  Blaine completed his National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.