Boehringer Ingelheim

About Senanayake:
Dr. Chris H. Senanayake was born in Sri Lanka and received a BS degree (First Class) in Sri Lanka. After coming to the United States, he completed his MS at Bowling Green State University with Professor Thomas Kinstle in synthetic chemistry. He obtained his Ph.D. under the guidance of Professor James H. Rigby at Wayne State University in 1987 where he worked on the total synthesis of complex natural products such as, ophiobolanes, and completed the first total synthesis of grosshemin in the guaianolide family. He then undertook a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Carl R. Johnson and worked on the total synthesis of polyol systems such as amphotericin B and compactin analogous, and the synthesis of C-nucleoside precursors.

In 1989 he joined Dow Chemical Co. as a Senior Research Chemist in Department of Process Development. After a brief stay at Dow Chemical, he joined the Merck Process Research Group in 1990 as a Senior Research Chemist. After a series of accomplishments in synthetic organic chemistry and obtaining a prestigious Merck Management Award in chemistry, he was promoted to Research Fellow in 1993. In 1996, he joined Sepracor, Inc. as Director of Chemical Process Research. He was promoted to Senior Director of Chemical Process Research in 1998, and Executive Director of Chemical Process Research in 2001. He was responsible for the design and development of economical chemical processes for the commercialization of pharmaceutical drugs. In 2002, he joined Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as Director of Chemical Process Research. In 2004, he was named as Director, Chemical Development at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2005, he was appointed as VP, Chemical Development. He currently leads a group of scientists and engineers located in labs at Ridgefield, CT and Richmond Virginia.

Dr. Senanayake’s research interests focus on the development of new asymmetric methods for the synthesis of bioactive molecules and heterocycles and on catalytic, enzymatic, and mechanistic studies. He has published and lectured in the area of practical asymmetric synthesis and many disciplines of organic chemistry how to develop drugs on an economical and practical manner in large-scale operation. He is the author about 200 papers and patents and applications in many areas of synthetic organic chemistry and design of improved chemical entities. Dr. Senanayake is an Editorial Advisory Board member of the Organic Process Research & Development Journal.

Senanayake's lecture at the Johnson Symposium:
"Practical Synthetic Methodologies for Efficient Drug Development"
During the past two decades, my group is involved in the development of a truly efficient, reliable and economically viable synthesis for many drugs and drug candidates utilizing practical synthetic methodologies. This lecture will be centered on several synthetic methods for important heterocycles for the synthesis of drug candidates.


Questions:
If you have questions or need additional information please conteact Patricia Dwyer at 650-723-4770