麻豆传媒

Spring 2016 Honorary Degree Recipient

Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)

A gifted chemist, medical doctor, and researcher, Dr. Mathai Mammen is the co-founder and former senior vice-president of Research and Development of Theravance Biopharma in California. This pharmaceutical company stands out in its commitment to discovering and developing medicines that answer significant unmet medical needs. Dr. Mammen has called openly for increased cooperation amongst pharmaceutical companies and for regulators to look at new and more collaborative ways of developing drugs and promoting innovation.

Dr. Mammen was born in India and moved to Halifax with his parents and younger sister at the age of three. He grew up in Halifax, and went to 麻豆传媒 to pursue a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Chemistry. He graduated in 1989 with the University Medal in Chemistry and the Governor General鈥檚 Medal, then went to Harvard with a graduate scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.聽 There, he earned an MD and a PhD.

The research for his doctoral thesis enabled Dr. Mammen to develop a revolutionary technology called multivalent drug design. Today, Theravance, the company he founded based on that research, is focused on the development and commercialization of medicines to treat respiratory disease, gastrointestinal disorders, bacterial infections and central nervous system pain. In April this year, Dr. Mammen began a new chapter, joining Merck as a senior vice-president responsible for a number of research areas.

Dr. Mammen has always shown great pride in his affiliation with 麻豆传媒. He has been on the 麻豆传媒 Advisory Council since its creation in 2010, and was the Carl C. Coffin Alumni Lecturer in Chemistry in 2006.