Tramposch Named UB Associate Vice President for Research

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Kenneth M. Tramposch, a researcher with 20 years experience in the discovery, development and project management of new drugs, has been appointed associate vice president for research at the University at Buffalo, effective Sept. 4.

Tramposch most recently was president and chief operating officer of Pilot Therapeutics Inc., a venture-backed biopharmaceutical company based in Winston Salem, N.C.

In his new position, Tramposch -- a UB graduate with a doctorate in medicinal chemistry -- will be responsible for scientific programs, organized research units and matters relating to transfer of technology, among other duties.

"Dr. Tramposch brings to UB a wealth of experience in commercialization of biomedical and biopharmaceutical research," said Jaylan Turkkan, UB vice president for research. "This will be invaluable to us as we plan out the NYSTAR Center in Drug Discovery, and as we capitalize immediately on discoveries arising from the Center for Drug Discovery and Experimental Therapeutics in our School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

"As well, Dr. Tramposch is on a scientific advisory board at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and will be instrumental in furthering our research interactions with faculty there," Turkkan said.

Pilot Therapeutics was formed in 1998 based on pioneering Functional Liponomics(tm) platform research. This research identified several key areas where the dysfunctional regulation of bioactive lipids was a significant cause of human disease and revealed natural and pharmaceutical therapeutic strategies for treating those diseases. The company develops "evidence-based, natural and pharmaceutical products" to treat such chronic conditions as asthma, hay fever, coronary heart disease, cystic acne and cancer.

As president and COO, Tramposch was responsible for creating corporate research strategies targeting inflammation and cancer therapeutic areas, establishing new research initiatives and recruiting, training and retaining world-class research-and-development staff.

Prior to joining Pilot Therapeutics in 1999 as vice president, he worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pharmaceutical Research Institute in Buffalo, joining the company as senior scientist for biochemistry research in 1981 and rising through the ranks to senior director of pharmacology.

He also has served as a research chemist in the Medical Research Department of the VA Medical Center. As an adjunct associate professor in the UB pharmacy school from 1987-99, he established the cooperative education program between Bristol-Myers Squibb and the pharmacy school for training master's students. Since 1999, he has been an adjunct associate professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Tramposch has led large multidisciplinary, multi-site research teams for several drug-development candidates. One such drug that he invented and developed, Solage, recently won approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

He has published 45 papers in scholarly journals and holds nine patents in the areas of lipid metabolism, agents for inducing selective gene expression and drugs for inflammatory diseases.

Tramposch is a member and past director of the Inflammation Research Association, and holds memberships in the American Chemical Society, the Society of Investigative Dermatology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He will reside in Clarence.