Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Secondary)
Biography
Claes Wahlestedt is Leonard M. Miller Professor and Director of the Center for Therapeutic Innovation at the University of Miami where he also serves as Associate Dean for Therapeutic Innovation. A native of Sweden, Dr. Wahlestedt obtained his MD and PhD degrees from Lund University. Prior to joining the University of Miami, Dr. Wahlestedt was a founding Professor and a Director at The Scripps Research Institute’s Florida campus. Between 1997 and 2005 he ran the Genome Center (one of the largest in Europe at the time) at the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden) where he was also an endowed Professor and Department Chair. He has also been a faculty member at Cornell University Medical College and at McGill University. At different stages in his career, he has directed large R&D organizations in the pharmaceutical industry for Astra-Zeneca and for Pharmacia/Pfizer. In addition, he has co-founded several biotechnology companies and serves on various boards. Dr. Wahlestedt has published over 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications (H-index 102) and a number of patents.
Education & Training
Education
Lund University
PhD, Pharmacology, 1987
Lund University
MD, 1986
Teaching Interests
Psychiatry; neurology; oncology; pharmacology; cheimistry; biochemistry; drug discovery; pharmacogenomics; bionformatics.
Research Interests
We pursue genome informed drug discovery with a range of modalities in multiple therapeutic areas including neuroscience and oncology. From a basic science perspective, we have a long-standing background in genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics and bioinformatics. Several CTI projects have moved to the clinical trials stage.
