Cancer Drug Development

Michael Jackson, PhD, is senior vice president of Drug Development at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, where he oversees the bicoastal operations of the Prebys Center, the Institute’s Drug Discovery enterprise. His overall goal is to generate a pipeline of first in class small molecule therapeutics based on breakthrough discoveries on the molecular basis of disease made by investigators at the institute and collaborators. He holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology of Cancer at the NCI-designated Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.

Upon joining SBP in 2009, Dr. Jackson managed, and then led as Principal Investigator, SBP’s NIH-funded Molecular Libraries Probe Comprehensive Center, which successfully executed over 100 HTS campaigns with collaborators across the nation. Over a six-year period, the center generated >30 million screening data points and produced over 60 chemical probe reports published through the NCBI bookshelf. Since the Molecular Libraries program ended, the Prebys Center has continued to operate in a highly collaborative framework, conducting HTS screens against >25 targets each year in search of drug leads to advance to therapeutics. Dr. Jackson is integrally involved in the Prebys Center’s outreach and translational efforts that include over 35 ongoing collaborations, supported by grants, collaborations, and contracts.

Dr. Jackson has held leadership roles including president of Research and Development at Alza Corporation, senior vice president of drug discovery at J&J Pharmaceutical Research and Development, and vice president of drug discovery and senior director at R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development.

Dr. Jackson earned a PhD in Molecular Biology and Toxicology from the University of Dundee. He completed his postdoctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute, where he focused on intracellular transport and antigen presentation in the lab of Peter Peterson, and subsequently held an assistant professorship in Cell Biology. He earned a BS in Botany and Biochemistry from Durham University.