Robert Pacifici, Ph.D.
Robert Pacifici is the Chief Scientific Officer of CHDI Foundation, a private, not-for-profit research organization that works with an international network of scientists to accelerate therapeutics development for Huntington’s disease. Previously he was the Site Director and Chief Scientific Officer at the Research Triangle Park Laboratories of Eli Lilly and Company. There he oversaw the company's global screening and quantitative-biology efforts. Prior to joining Lilly, Pacifici was Vice President of Discovery Technologies at Xencor, a pri¬vately held biotechnology company that applied rational design principles to the development of protein therapeutics. At Amgen for nearly ten years, Pacifici held positions of increasing responsibilities including leadership for their automation, high throughput screening, and information technologies groups.
Pacifici received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Southern California. Outside of CHDI, Pacifici currently participates in several external boards and advisory com¬mittees including:
- USC Board of Supervisors of the International Center for Regulatory Science
- Member, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation Scientific Advisory Board
- Member, Akashi Scientific Advisory Board
Pacifici has previously served on:
- Council member for National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH/NINDS) from 2011 till 2014
- Chair, Working Group for the NINDS Anticonvulsant Screening Program
- Chair, NIH/NINDS Spinal Muscular Atrophy Project's Scientific Steering Committee
- Advisor, Marigold Foundation for Myotonic Dystrophy
- Advisor, Cooperative International Neuromuscular Group (CINRG) the clinical research arm of the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Center (DMDRC) and the Center for Genetic Medicine Research at the Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC)
- Member, Science Advisory Board for Edison Pharmaceuticals
- Member, TREAT ALS Steering Committee
- Member, Pathogenesis of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy advisory board
- Panel of Experts for National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at NIH, in the NIH Center for Translational Therapeutics (NCTT). This division is home to two programs that seek to advance promising therapeutic agents through late-stage preclinical development: Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND), and Bridging Interventional Development Gaps (BrIDGs)
Robert also serves in the non-scientific capacity of President with the Asia America Symphony Association. Robert, his wife Eunjoo, and his two children Sarina and Noah, live in Palos Verdes Estates California. Robert is an avid amateur road-cyclist and a classic BMW enthusiast.