SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY
Ronald J. Lukas, Ph.D., is the founder and chief officer of Molecular Matters AZ
Dr. Lukas has subject matter expertise in:
LABORATORY-BASED BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
- Trained and educated at the State University of New York – Cortland (Physics Department); the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center (Health Sciences Center – Brooklyn; Department of Medicine, Program in Biophysics); Columbia University in New York City (Physics Department); the University of California – Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (Chemical Biodynamics); and Stanford University (Department of Neurobiology).
- Forty years as an independent, principal investigator at Barrow Neurological Institute, Division of Neurobiology, Laboratory of Neurochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience.
- Thirty-plus years as a research or adjunct faculty member at Arizona State University (Chemistry and Biochemistry, Neuroscience, and/or Biomedical Engineering) and at the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine (Neuroscience, Pharmacology, and/or Basic Medical Sciences).
- Sixty-plus funded research grants (National Institutes on Aging, Drug Abuse, Mental Health, Neurological Diseases and Stroke, General Medical Sciences, or Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Arizona Disease Control Research Commission/Council (cancer, stroke, immunological diseases, inflammatory disorders, sensory disorders, neuroscience, drug abuse, genetic engineering); private foundations concerned with epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, drug abuse, and cessation. Numerous other private sector-supported contract or work-for-hire arrangements.
- One hundred and sixty-plus publications of original work.
- Two hundred and sixty-plus scientific society presentations.
- Sixty-plus workshop or symposia presentations.
- Patents for disease therapies or laboratory tools.
ADMINISTRATIVE AND POLICY MATTERS IN RESEARCH
- University or institutional research oversight or advisory committee member or chair.
- Eleven years as Institutional Vice President – Research overseeing policies and programmatic strategies for laboratory and clinical research.
- Broad knowledge about biological and physical sciences, engineering and technology, and human studies research.
SCIENCE EDUCATION, COMMENTARY AND DISCOURSE
- Aside from publications or presentations of original work, Twenty-five review articles or book chapters.
- Numerous classroom lectures or management of practical laboratory or demonstration educational modules.
- Provided scientific training for nearly one hundred high school, undergraduate, graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, nearly all have gone on to earn doctoral (or JD) degrees.
- Referee for ten-plus US federal, private sector, or foreign research funding agencies.
- Scientific program or policy advisory roles for federal institutions.
- Referee and/or editorial activities for scientific journals.
- Information source for laboratory work specifics and safety, human subject work, and protection.
- Provider of lay education in science and medicine to foundation staff and prospective benefactors, hospital and university administration and staff, and extramural members of the extended biomedical community.
- Twenty-plus scientific society symposia or workshops organized.
- Chair or member of six state, national or international society meeting organizing or nomenclature committees.
- Presentations on scientific policy matters, research responsibility, and medical ethics.
BIOMEDICAL LEGAL MATTERS
- Service in discovery and as a fact or expert witness in some of the largest product liability cases in US history.
- Service in discovery and as an expert witness in patent infringement or defense litigation cases.
- Firsthand experience as a contributor to acquisition of, or as a holder, of device, drug, or biological intellectual property.
- Balanced experience in advocacy for company or employee positions in personnel actions involving research scientists.
EVALUATION OF SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED BUSINESSES
- Experience in solely private sector initiatives and in joint academic-industry partnerships in drug, biological, or device design, development, and commercialization for therapeutic purposes.
- Roles in clinical assay and analytical instrumentation design and development.
- Well-versed in science and financial aspects of pharma, device, and biotechnology enterprises.
- Consultant for ten-plus commercial entities in science and medicine.
RESEARCH PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS – coming soon
COMMENTARY ON IMPORTANCE OF DISCOVERY – coming soon