Return of the Hero

There’s a compelling tale common to the legends of many civilizations, past and present. A young person ventures out into the world, makes his or her mark, and then returns home years later a triumphant “hero.” In Robert Young, the legend is reality, thanks to a BC Leadership Chair at Simon Fraser University.

His journey began in BC where he grew up, earned a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Victoria and a Ph.D. in synthetic chemistry and biosynthesis at The University of British Columbia. Then he was off to London’s Imperial College on a post-doctoral fellowship, then to Australia, next a short stint back at UBC, and then to Paris. Up to that point his was a typical academic research career. That changed in 1977, however, when he accepted an appointment at pharmaceutical giant Merck Frosst’s research laboratories in Montreal.

“I was with Merck for 29 years,” he recalls. “I started as a senior research chemist, and climbed up to become Vice President, Head of the chemistry department and, on a couple of occasions, Acting Head of the entire Research Institute.”

It was while he was at Merck that he and his team developed the asthma drug, Singulair^TM. “The research that led to its discovery began in 1979,” he says. “Singulair^TM was discovered in 1991 and clinical research took place through to 1998. In all, the project cost Merck hundreds of millions of dollars, since (among other things) we had to ensure it was safe for children before putting it on the market. Today Singulair^TM is used throughout the world in treating adult and childhood asthma and also allergic rhinitis (hay fever). It’s Merck’s best-selling product.”

In 2003, the American Chemical Society named Dr. Young a “Hero of Chemistry.” He also received the Order of Canada and other accolades.

“I left Merck in 2006, taking early retirement, and began to consider my options. I formed a consulting company and joined company advisory boards. However, my life plan always included a mix of industrial and academic research. In fact, I realized I wanted to return to the academic world. BC and Simon Fraser University beckoned with the offer of a Leadership Chair, and I accepted the appointment without hesitation. It’s good to be home again!”

The Chair occupied by Dr. Young is supported by $2.25 million from the Leading Edge Endowment Fund. It has a further $2.25 million from Merck Frosst and a private donor. “Merck Frosst is pleased to work in partnership with Simon Fraser University and a top scientist like Dr. Robert Young who has made such a positive impact in patients’ lives with the discovery of Singulair^TM,” said Dr. Michael Luther, Vice-President, Basic Research at Merck Frosst. “Advances in healthcare require resources, teamwork and partnerships across the country,” added Dr. Luther. “Merck Frosst is very proud to support basic research in Canadian research institutions that share common goals.”

Additional funding for some specialized equipment for Dr. Young’s lab has been provided by Genome BC and, of course, SFU itself has been highly supportive. “They’ve given me superb facilities and a President’s Research Award that’s helping me pay a member of my research staff.”

Since his arrival here in April, 2007, he has been setting up his lab, hiring staff, engaging students (the “heroes” of the future?) and setting out research goals. “First, we want to discover new molecular targets for drug discovery,” he explains. “For example sometimes a drug has a beneficial effect but we don’t know how it works. If we don’t know how it works it is very hard to improve. We can make molecular probes to attach to the drug target in the body and identify it. Second, if we find such a target we need to study and validate it, showing that our theory is correct and that interacting with the target will be useful and, hopefully, do nothing bad. There are many biomedical researchers in BC who are at the leading edge of this line of research. I plan to work with them. Once we get the grants in place to support these collaborations, we’ll get underway. Finally, there are targets that have been validated but which still raise important issues. We need to deal with these.”

All three goals also have implications for a project on bone-degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis. Scientists have identified substances that stimulate bone growth, which is a good thing in the treatment of this disease. Dr. Young has worked to discover the way they work and has identified potent compounds. Unfortunately, they also cause gastro-intestinal distress. Now, can a way be found to do one thing without the other? That’s the goal.

Although he kept in touch with his BC friends and colleagues while at Merck and, indeed, helped review and approve funding requests submitted to Merck by BC scientists, Dr. Young was still pleasantly surprised to see the changes that have occurred here in the past 30 years. “The environment in advanced medical research in BC is very strong and vibrant in both the academic and biotechnology industry areas. I get regular calls from people wanting me to collaborate with them. The challenge I’m facing is not to get pulled in too many directions at once.”

For additional information on research at Merck Frosst visit www.merckfrosstlab.ca. Dr. Young’s website is www.sfu.ca/chemistry/faculty/young/index.html.