ABOUT US

Advisors

Appili has access to counsel from a wide range of experts in infectious diseases, including those with experience in hospital-acquired infections, the biology of bacteria, and drug discovery. Our advisors include:


Lynn Silver, PhD

Advisors

Lynn Silver earned her PhD at Tufts University in Microbiology and Molecular Biology and considers herself a microbial geneticist. After two postdocs, she joined Merck Research Laboratories in 1982, where she led groups in antibacterial discovery for 21 years – working on antibiotics targeting both Gram-positives and Gram-negatives. After early retirement from Merck, she established an independent consultancy, focused on antibacterial discovery, early development, and antibiotic resistance. She has thus been advising large and small pharmaceutical companies, VCs, the WHO and the Pew Charitable Trusts, as well as funding groups including CARB-X, NOVO-REPAIR, NIH, and IMI. She continues to write and lecture on topics of antibacterial discovery and resistance.


Dean Shinabarger, PhD

Advisors

Dean Shinaberger currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Micromyx LLC, a company he co-founded in 2003 to conduct preclinical R&D for universities, biotech, pharma, and animal health companies. He brings to Appili’s advisory team over 25 years in the pharmaceutical anti-infective space, including work with Proctor and Gamble, Upjohn Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacia. He was a key member of the discovery and development team working on the oxazolidinone class of antibacterial agents, and played a major role in elucidating the mechanism of action/resistance to linezolid. Dr. Shinabarger also represented Pharmacia during the FDA review and eventual approval of Zyvox® in 2000. Prior to his work in the pharmaceutical industry, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at North Carolina State University, studying sterol synthesis in yeast. He also completed a second fellowship at the University Of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago investigating Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis in cystic fibrosis patient lung infections. Dr. Shinabarger received a BS in Biology from Emporia State University and a PhD in Microbiology from Louisiana State University.


Sridhar Narayan, PhD

Advisors

Dr. Narayan has spent over nine years in large pharmaceutical companies. As a medicinal chemistry project leader at AstraZeneca and Eisai, Dr. Narayan successfully led teams working on various drug-discovery programs ranging from hit identification and lead optimization through candidate nomination and IND filing. He led the chemistry team on the discovery of a first in class TLR7 antagonist for the treatment of lupus. Due to his experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Narayan is intimately familiar with the process of optimizing pharmacokinetics, metabolism, toxicity and other parameters of candidate compounds, as well as managing external research at CROs. Dr. Narayan joined Navitor Pharmaceuticals as the Director of Medicinal Chemistry in July 2015, where he is leading multiple projects on the discovery of small molecule modulators of the mTOR pathway for the treatment of metabolic diseases. Dr. Narayan is also advisor for Appili on aspects of the ATI-1503 program including medicinal chemistry, primary and secondary assays, X-ray crystallography and computer-aided drug design.


Lynn Silver, PhD

Advisors

Lynn Silver earned her PhD at Tufts University in Microbiology and Molecular Biology and considers herself a microbial geneticist. After two postdocs, she joined Merck Research Laboratories in 1982, where she led groups in antibacterial discovery for 21 years – working on antibiotics targeting both Gram-positives and Gram-negatives. After early retirement from Merck, she established an independent consultancy, focused on antibacterial discovery, early development, and antibiotic resistance. She has thus been advising large and small pharmaceutical companies, VCs, the WHO and the Pew Charitable Trusts, as well as funding groups including CARB-X, NOVO-REPAIR, NIH, and IMI. She continues to write and lecture on topics of antibacterial discovery and resistance.


Dean Shinabarger, PhD

Advisors

Dean Shinaberger currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Micromyx LLC, a company he co-founded in 2003 to conduct preclinical R&D for universities, biotech, pharma, and animal health companies. He brings to Appili’s advisory team over 25 years in the pharmaceutical anti-infective space, including work with Proctor and Gamble, Upjohn Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacia. He was a key member of the discovery and development team working on the oxazolidinone class of antibacterial agents, and played a major role in elucidating the mechanism of action/resistance to linezolid. Dr. Shinabarger also represented Pharmacia during the FDA review and eventual approval of Zyvox® in 2000. Prior to his work in the pharmaceutical industry, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at North Carolina State University, studying sterol synthesis in yeast. He also completed a second fellowship at the University Of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago investigating Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis in cystic fibrosis patient lung infections. Dr. Shinabarger received a BS in Biology from Emporia State University and a PhD in Microbiology from Louisiana State University.


Sridhar Narayan, PhD

Advisors

Dr. Narayan has spent over nine years in large pharmaceutical companies. As a medicinal chemistry project leader at AstraZeneca and Eisai, Dr. Narayan successfully led teams working on various drug-discovery programs ranging from hit identification and lead optimization through candidate nomination and IND filing. He led the chemistry team on the discovery of a first in class TLR7 antagonist for the treatment of lupus. Due to his experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Narayan is intimately familiar with the process of optimizing pharmacokinetics, metabolism, toxicity and other parameters of candidate compounds, as well as managing external research at CROs. Dr. Narayan joined Navitor Pharmaceuticals as the Director of Medicinal Chemistry in July 2015, where he is leading multiple projects on the discovery of small molecule modulators of the mTOR pathway for the treatment of metabolic diseases. Dr. Narayan is also advisor for Appili on aspects of the ATI-1503 program including medicinal chemistry, primary and secondary assays, X-ray crystallography and computer-aided drug design.