H. Peter Nestler
The University of Arizona Center for Innovation is pleased to announce the expansion of the team with H. Peter Nestler in the position of Mentor-in-Residence. In this role, he will work with UACI staff, subject matter experts and mentor to support startups with an added focus on life sciences.
Nestler has more than 25 years of experience in academic life sciences, big pharma and biotech environments. In 1992, he obtained his doctorate in philosophy with a focus on chemistry from Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. His career led him through a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University and a faculty position at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory into industry and eventually to Tucson. Nestler has earned many prestigious awards, including the Alta Bioscience Award at the Fifth International “Symposium Solid Phase Synthesis and Combinatorial Chemical Libraries” from London in 1997. He was awarded the “Studienabschlußstipendium” of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie Deutschlands, a Ph.D. Fellowship of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie Deutschlands, and was named a member of the “Graduiertenkolleg Biological and Chemical Synthesis of Low Molecular Weight Bioactive Compounds” at Goethe University.
He has been a member of several prestigious societies, including the American Peptide Society from 1997 to 2003, the Japanese Combinatorial Chemistry Focus Group since 1996, and the American Chemical Society since 1995. He served as a proofing editor for Chemical Highlights in 1993 and 1994, and he has been a member of the German Chemical Society since 1987.
Nestler has nearly 40 patents and publications to his credit. These include “A General Method for Molecular Tagging of Encoded Combinatorial Chemistry Libraries,” co-authored with P.A. Bartlett and W.C. Still. He is also the lead author of “Molecular Forceps from Combinatorial Libraries Prevent the Farnesylation of Ras by Binding to Its Carboxy-Terminus.” in 1999. These are just a small sample of his many influential publications, which are frequently referenced throughout the industry. In addition, he has four promising patent applications not yet published.
Nestler is also an active member of the Desert Angels – Southern Arizona’s seed stage investment group. His extensive experience will be shared with over 50 science and technology related startups that call UACI home. Nestler complements the robust team at UACI which ensures startups have the expertise and support necessary to successfully launch their business.
UACI provides a structured venture development plan which navigates entrepreneurs through a 27-point program roadmap that includes everything from business planning, team development and obtaining funding. UACI provides dedicated space for startups where they can work alongside other entrepreneurs in a fast-paced environment.
