Dr. Abou-Gharbia is currently the Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Director of the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research (MCDDR) at the School of Pharmacy, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. He is responsible for Setting and implementing School of Pharmacy research strategies to promote the school’s research and entrepreneurial enterprise. Prior to joining Temple University in 2008, Magid spent 26 years at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals where he was Senior Vice President and Head of Chemical and Screening Services. As Senior Vice President & Head of Chemical & Screening Sciences at Wyeth, he was responsible for overseeing and directing Wyeth worldwide chemistry and screening research efforts of 500 scientists at four US research facilities and 150 chemists in Hyderabad, India in support of drug discovery in Neuroscience, Inflammation, Women’s Health/Bone, Oncology and Cardiovascular/Metabolic Diseases therapeutic areas. Over the years Dr. Abou-Gharbia led research efforts in Medicinal Chemistry and Drug discovery at Wyeth resulted in the discovery of eight marketed drugs and many compounds currently under clinical evaluation including: the first-in-class SNRI antidepressant Effexor® and Pristiq®; short-acting hypnotic Sonata® , the anticancer agent Mylotarg® the first FDA approved antibody drug conjugate; an anticancer Torisel® (temsirolimus), first FDA approved m-TOR inhibitor; a broad spectrum antibiotic Tygacil®, anticancer kinase inhibitor Bosutinib®, and a non-steroidal, estrogen modulator Viviant™, (Bazedoxifene®) which opened up new options for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Education: BS in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (1971), MS in Medicinal Chemistry (1974) from the School of Pharmacy, Cairo University, and Ph.D. (1979) from the University of Pennsylvania working with Professor Madeleine Joullie, followed by a two-year NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Temple University Medical School and the Department of Chemistry. Leadership & Mentoring : Throughout the course of his career, Dr. Abou-Gharbia has worked tirelessly with organizations across the globe in an effort to establish and implement modern paradigms for drug discovery and to promote biomedical research. His efforts were instrumental in the formation of the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, a unique fully integrated Drug Discovery research center within Temple University’s School of Pharmacy. Focused on the education and career development of the next generation of drug discovery scientists, the Moulder Center provides a hands-on experiential education in modern methods of drug discovery and development. Faculty, students, and staff scientists work together to foster both the next generation of research and cutting edge drug research through collaboration with a global network of top in class academic, public, and private institutions. Among his recent contributions in the Middle East included instituting medicinal chemistry and drug discovery research at four major educational institutions in the region: the University of Sharjah’s School of Pharmacy in the UAE, the Miser University for Science and Technology (MUST) in Egypt, Future University in Egypt (FUE) , City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SERTA-City) in Egypt and the establishment of Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI).. In addition, Dr. Abou-Gharbia continue to welcome and host visiting Scholars, faculty, and students in sabbaticals, internships, and Fellowships in his laboratories in an effort to further boost biomedical research in many institutions in the US and abroad through training in Life Sciences and modern drug discovery methods.

Organic Chemistry

Cancer Drug Delivery Medicinal Chemistry Nanoparticles Neuroscience Pharmacogenomics Pharmacokinetics

"Cancer epigenetic therapy by calcium signaling mediated reactivation of tumor suppressor genes", Noël J.-M. Raynal, Justin Lee, Youjun Wang, Judith Garriga, Gabriel Malouf, Sarah Dumont, Elisha J Dettman, Vazganush Gharibyan, Saira Ahmed, Woonbok Chung, Wayne E. Childers, Magid Abou-Gharbia, Ryan A. Henry, Andrew J. Andrews5, Jaroslav Jelinek, Stephen B. Baylin6, Don Gill2, and Jean-Pierre J. Issa, Science, In Press.

“Unleashing the power of Semi-Synthesis: The Discovery of Toresil”, J.S. Skotnicki and M. Abou-Gharbia, in Orphan Drugs and Rare Diseases, Editors: David C Pryde, Michael J Palmer,RSC Publisher, 2014, 347-366.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Structure Revealed that the Human Polyomavirus JC Virus Agnoprotein Contains an α-Helix Encompassing the Leu/Ile/Phe-Rich Domain. Coric P, Saribas AS, Abou-Gharbia M, Childers W, White MK, Bouaziz S, Safak M. J Virol. 2014 Jun 15;88(12):6556-75. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00146-14. Epub 2014 Mar 26.

“Estrogen receptor antagonists are anti-cryptococcal agents that directly bind EF-hand proteins and synergize with fluconazole in vivo”, Arielle Butts, Kristy Koselny, Yeissa Chabrier-Rosello, Camille P. Semighini,Jessica C.S. Brown, Xuying Wang, Sivakumar Annadurai, Louis DiDone,Julie Tabroff, Wayne E. Childers, Jr., Magid Abou-Gharbia, Melanie Wellington, Maria E. Cardenas, Hiten D. Madhani, Joseph Heitman and Damian J. Krysan, m Bio, February 2014,Volume 5(1),e 00765-13.

“Discovery of Innovative Therapeutics: Today’s Realities and Tomorrow’s Vision. 2. Pharma Challenges and their Commitment to Innovation,” M. Abou-Gharbia, W. Childerss, J.Med.Chem, 2014, 57, 5525-5553

“Synthesis and Evaluation of Strychnos Alkaloids as MDR Reersal Agents for Cancer Cell Eradication”, Gopal Sirasani, Surendrachary Munagala, Manali Phadke, Natalkia Krynetskaia, Frances Sharom, Disshartha Chaudhury, Gregory Tawa, Wayne Childers, Magid Abou-Gharbia, Evgeny Krynetskiy, and Rodrigo B. Andrade, Bioorganic & Med Chem. , 2014, 22, 1148-1155.

“A Novel Assay Platform for the Detection of Translation Modulators of Spirmidine/Spermine Acetyl transferase”, Oscar Perez-Leal, Magid Abou-Gharbia, John Gordon, Wayne Childers and Salim Merali, Current Pharmaceutical Design, 2014, 20: 245-255.

“Synthesis of rapamycin glycoconjugates via a CuAAC-based approach”, Lisa Moni , Alberto Marra, Jerauld S. Skotnicki, Frank E. Koehn , Magid Abou-Gharbia Alessandro Dondoni, Tetrahedron.Lett., 54 (2013)6999-7003

“Discovery of Innovative Therapeutics: Today’s Realities and Tomorrow’s Vision. 1. Criticisms Faced by the Pharmaceutical industry,” M. Abou-Gharbia, W. Childerss, J.Med.Chem, 2013, 56(14), 5659-5672.

“ Essential roles of Leu/Ile/Phe-rich domain of JC virus agnoprotein in dimer/oligomer formation protein stability and splicing of viral transcripts”, A. Sami Saribas, Magid Abou Gharbia, Wayne Childers, Ilker K. Sariyer, Martyn K. White and Mahmut Safak, Virology, 2013, 443(1), 161-76.

“Targeting Neurodegenerative Diseases: Drug Discovery in a Challenging Arena”, M. Abou-Gharbia and W. Childers, Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2012, 84, 1543-1556

“Design and synthesis of 2-aminothiazole based antimicrobials targeting MRSA”, Annadurai, S., Martinez, R., Canney, DJ, Eidem, T,, Dunman, PM., Abou-Gharbia, M,Biorg Med Chem Lett, 2012 Dec 15;22(24):7719-25. PMID: 23116888

“A new and efficient synthetic route for the anxiolytic agent CL285032,” V.P. Ghidu, M.A. Ilies, T. Cullen, R.Pollet and M. Abou-Gharbia, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett,(1): 259-61(2011).

“The Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Quinolyl-piperazinyl Piperidines as Potent Serotonin 5-HT1A Antagonists”Wayne E. Childers, Jr., Lisa M. Havran, Magda Asselin, James J. Bicksler, Dan C. Chong, George T. Grosu, Zongqi Shen, Magid A. Abou-Gharbia, et al. J. Med. Chem. 53, 4066-4084 (2010); PMID: 20443629

“Beta-lactamase inhibitors display anti-seizure properties in an invertebrate assay”,Rawls SM, Karaca F, Madhani I, Bhojani V, Martinez RL, Abou-Gharbia M, Raffa RB. Neuroscience 2010,Sep,15;169(4):1800-4; (PMID: 20600649)

M. A. Abou-Gharbia and W. E. Childers, The Discovery of Effexor® and Pristiq®, in “Analogue-Based Drug Discovery II, J. Fischer and C. R. Ganellin, eds., Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co., KgaA, Weinheim, 2010, pp. 507-524.

“Begacestat (GSI-953): A Novel, Selective Thiophene Sulfonamide Inhibitor of Amyloid Precursor Protein ɣ-Secretase for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease”, R. L. Martone, H. Zhou, K. Atchison, T. Comery, J. Z. Xu, X. Huang, X. Gong, M. Jin, A. Kreft, B. Harrison, S.C. Mayer, S. Aschmies, C. Gonzales, M.M. Zaleska, D.R. Riddell, E. Wagner, P.Lu, S.C. Sun, J.Sonnenberg-Reines, A. Oganesian, K. Adkins, M. Leach, D.W. Clarke, D. Huryn, M. Abou-Gharbia, R. Magdola, J. Bard, G. Frick, S. Raje, S.B. Forlow, C. Balliet, M.E. Burczynski, J.Pharm.Exp. Ther., 331(2), 598-608 (2009)

Comparison of Human and Rat Uterine Leiomyomata: Identification of a Dysregulated mTOR Pathway” J. S. Crabtree, S. A. Jelinsky, H. A. Harris, S. E. Choe, M. M. Cotreau, M.L. Kimberland, E. Wilson2, K. A. Saraf, W. Liu, A. S. McCampbell, B. Dave, R. R. Broaddus, E. L. Brown, W. Kao, J.S. Skotnicki, M. Abou-Gharbia, R. C. Winneker,and C. L. Walker , Cancer Research, 69 (15):6171-8 (2009).

“Prodrug of Perzinfotel with improved oral Bioavailability”, R.B. Baudy, J. A. Butera, M. Abou-Gharbia, C. Chen, B. Harrison, U. jain, R. Magolda,J.Y. Sze, M.R. Brandt,T.A. Cummons, D. Kowal, M.N. Pangalos, B. Zupan, M. Hoffmann, M. May, C.Mugford, J. Kennedy and W. Childers, J.Med.Chem., 52(3): 771-8 (2009).

“Discovery of Innovative Small Molecule Therapeutics”, M. Abou-Gharbia, J.Med.Chem, 52(1): 2-9 (2009)