Science To Life

We should all be so luck to do what we love, help make a difference in the world and make a million dollars while doing it.

Dennis Liotta Ph.D. has done just that.

I had the pleasure of interviewing him and was inspired by his journey to discover some of the most important drugs of our time.

I hope others can likewise find inspiration in knowing that science can indeed translate from the lab bench to the real world and make a positive difference in people's lives.

Looking at Dr. Dennis Liotta it is hard to imagine that he is worth almost 80 million dollars. Dressed in an unassuming grey shirt and khakis, the professor of organic chemistry at Emory University sat down to talk about his 20 year journey from the world of synthetic chemistry to anti-HIV drug design. Though the journey has not been easy he has emerged a world-recognized leader in the fight against AIDS.

Liotta began his career at Emory in the late 1970's as a synthetic chemist. Feeling, however, that this field addressed too narrow an audience he set out to do more far-reaching work with public significance and quickly became interested in addressing the AIDS epidemic.

Liotta teamed up with another Emory professor Raymond Schinazi and began his foray into medical science and drug design. He was able to combine his skills as a synthetic chemist with molecular modeling to design better anti-HIV drugs.

As a synthetic chemist "we're not stuck with what nature gives us," he says. "We can actually make small molecules and tune their properties" to make them into better drugs.

Entering pharmaceutical drug design was not easy.

"Most scientists are not born entrepreneurs," he explains, and "when you're a novice, you make novice mistakes."

He had to equip himself with an additional set of skills including business, law and regulatory matters. Furthermore he acknowledges that the academic community was not always as supportive as it could have been.

"Some of my peers thought I had gone over to the dark side."

Today Liotta has discovered several important anti-HIV drugs and launched a number of successful companies. He was part of the Emory team that discovered lamivudine (3TC) a drug currently used in the anti-HIV cocktail given to 80 percent of AIDS patients in the United States.

Another one of the drugs he helped develop, emtriva (also known as emtricitabine and FTC), was sold in 2005 for $540 million-the largest intellectual property sale ever to involve an American university.

With such accomplishments Liotta could have retired a long time ago but his passion for science and teaching keeps him at Emory.

"Part of my reason for continuing to be here is that I like to teach. I've made it a point every year to at least do one undergraduate class. I think it's important for us to show students who are just beginning about their choices and about the real excitement of science."

Part of this excitement comes from his sense of responsibility to give back to the scientific community, in particular to budding young scientists. He seems eager to teach and always free with his advice for success.

"Follow your passion," he says vehemently, "you really have to be excited about what you're doing and why you're doing it. If you really like what you're doing, chances are you'll find a way of doing something important with it. And maybe even find a way of making some money."

While it may seem he has reached the pinnacle of his career, Liotta continues to develop new projects.

One that is particularly close to his heart is the creation of research-based pharmaceutical companies in the developing world. The goal is to give scientists in these countries the expertise and resources to tackle the diseases that plague them and their communities. Such a project can have important global implications and improve the quality of life for generations of individuals in these countries.

Above all, he would like to leave a legacy-to make a useful contribution to the global community. That, he says, "would be a nice way to go out."

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