Distinguished Professor Richard DiMarchi and Alumna Dawn Brooks (Ph.D. 1998) were honored by the Indiana Business Journal for their undeniable impact on Indiana and the region. As mentioned here, the IBJ Media’s “Indiana 250” is a listing of the state’s most influential and impactful leaders across business, philanthropy, the arts, government, and no-for-profits. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!
Professor DiMarchi is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Gill Chair in Biomolecular Sciences at Indiana University, where he previously served as chairman of the Chemistry Department. Dr. DiMarchi is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He is a former Group Vice President at Eli Lilly and later at Novo Nordisk. He is recognized for his contributions to the discovery and development of rDNA-derived Humalog®, rGlucagon®, and Forteo®. His academic research has broadened the understanding of glucagon physiology and the discovery of single molecule multimode agonists for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. He is a former decade-long chairman of the Peptide Therapeutics Foundation and is widely recognized as an international spokesperson for macromolecular medicines.
Professor DiMarchi is co-inventor on more than one hundred U.S. patents and co-author to more than two hundred and fifty peer-reviewed scientific publications. He was identified as a top-five translation researcher by Nature Biotechnology for the years 2014 and 2015. Since 2003, he has co-founded six successful biotech companies (Ambrx, Marcadia, Calibrium, MB2, Assembly, MBX). In the last decade Professor DiMarchi has received the 2011 Merrifield Award for career contributions in peptide sciences, the 2014 German National Erwin Schrödinger-Preis, the 2015 Meienhofer Prize, the 2015 Max Bergmann Medal, and the 2016 ACS Alfred Burger career award in medicinal chemistry.
Dawn Brooks, Ph.D. serves as the Global Development Leader for Alzheimer’s disease within Eli Lilly and Company’s Neuroscience Business Unit. In this role, she leads the cross-functional team to complete the clinical data package, regulatory reviews, scientific disclosures, value generation and provide the foundation for the commercialization strategy for Lilly’s potential drug, donanemab, in the US and around the world. More broadly, Dawn oversees the development strategy and integrated plan for other clinical phase Alzheimer’s disease assets. Previously Dawn was the Global Development Leader for Trulicity (Type 2 Diabetes), Lilly’s historically largest brand, and also served as the Chief Operations Officer for the Phase 3 development program of Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for Type 2 diabetes. Dawn joined Lilly with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Indiana University in 1998 and has held roles in chemistry leadership, Six Sigma process improvement, clinical development, and Project Management leadership.