Daniel L. Simmons is a professor of chemistry and former director of the Cancer Research Center at Brigham Young University (BYU). He was the discoverer of the COX-2 enzyme that is the target of celecoxib (Celebrex) and other COX-2 inhibitors. He and BYU felt that Pfizer had not properly credited or paid them for Simmons work in this development and brought a suit against Pfizer.
In 2014, the Cancer Research Center at Brigham Young University was renamed The Simmons Center for Cancer Research in his honor after he stepped down as director after 17 years.
Simmons has bachelor's and master's degrees from BYU. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1986. From 1986-1989 he held a post-doctoral Fellowship at Harvard University.
Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer (1824–1906) and his cousin Charles F. Erhart (1821–1891).
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Celecoxib, sold under the brand name Celebrex among others, is a COX-2 inhibitor and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It is used to treat the pain and inflammation in osteoarthritis, acute pain in adults, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, painful menstruation, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. It may also be used to decrease the risk of colorectal adenomas in people with familial adenomatous polyposis. It is taken by mouth. Benefits are typically seen within an hour.
Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, also known as coxibs, are a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that directly target cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an enzyme responsible for inflammation and pain. Targeting selectivity for COX-2 reduces the risk of peptic ulceration and is the main feature of celecoxib, rofecoxib, and other members of this drug class.
Thomas Robert Cech is an American chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman, for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA. Cech discovered that RNA could itself cut strands of RNA, suggesting that life might have started as RNA. He found that RNA can not only transmit instructions, but also that it can speed up the necessary reactions.
Professor Michael H. Gelb is an American biochemist and chemist specializing in enzymes and particularly those of medical significance. He is the Boris and Barbara L. Weinstein Endowed Chair in Chemistry at the University of Washington in Seattle. He also teaches Honors Organic Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Enzymology.
Paul Alan Cox is an American ethnobotanist whose scientific research focuses on discovering new medicines by studying patterns of wellness and illness among indigenous peoples. Cox was born in Salt Lake City in 1953.
Howard Tracy Hall was an American physical chemist and one of the early pioneers in the research of synthetic diamonds, using a press of his own design.
Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), also known as Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (HUGO PTGS2), is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PTGS2 gene. In humans it is one of two cyclooxygenases. It is involved in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandin H2, an important precursor of prostacyclin, which is expressed in inflammation.
The history of Brigham Young University (BYU) begins in 1875, when the school was called Brigham Young Academy (BYA). The school did not reach university status until 1903, in a decision made by the school's board of trustees at the request of BYU president Benjamin Cluff. It became accredited during the tenure of Franklin S. Harris, under whom it gained national recognition as a university. A period of expansion after World War II caused the student body to grow many times in size, making BYU the largest private university of the time. The school's history is closely connected with its sponsor, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1), also known as prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PTGS1 gene. In humans it is one of two cyclooxygenases.
The Carl F. Eyring Science Center (ESC) is one of the science buildings on the Brigham Young University (BYU) campus in Provo, Utah, United States. It was built in 1950 and named after Carl F. Eyring in 1954.
Arnold Kent Garr was the chair of the department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 2006 to 2009. He was also the lead editor of the Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History.
JoAnne Stubbe is an American chemist best known for her work on ribonucleotide reductases, for which she was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2009. In 2017, she retired as a Professor of Chemistry and Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Henry A. Lardy NAS AAA&S APS was a biochemist and professor emeritus in the biochemistry department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1958, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1965, and the American Philosophical Society in 1976. Research in Lardy's laboratory centered on elucidating the mechanisms underlying metabolism.
Noel L. Owen is a professor of chemistry at Brigham Young University who served from 1995 to 2001 as associate chair of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. He is also a member of BYU's Cancer Research Center.
Research institutes connected with BYU in the present or past include:
Adam T. Woolley is a professor of chemistry at Brigham Young University (BYU) and the recipient of the 2007 Award for young investigators in Separation Science. Woolley and his group are applying microfabrication methods in making microfluidic systems for bioanalysis.
Gregory L. Verdine is an American chemical biologist, biotech entrepreneur, venture capitalist and university professor. He is a founder of the field of chemical biology, which deals with the application of chemical techniques to biological systems. His work has focused on mechanisms of DNA repair and cell penetrability.
Laura Bridgewater is the Associate Academic Vice President for Faculty Development at Brigham Young University (BYU). Previously she was the associate dean in the College of Life Sciences at BYU. Her research focused on the way stress affects gut microbiota in mice and genes involved with osteoarthritis and BMP2.