Expertise and dedication to scientific innovation
Dr. Najib Lamharzi is currently President/CEO and founder of Oncotherapy Solutions, LLC. He holds a PhD in Marine Biotechnology from the University of Aix-Marseille-II, France. Dr. Lamharzi has over 20 years experience working on pre-clinical drug development, drug delivery and cancer biology as well as on other research areas with clinical applications. Dr. Lamharzi has 19 research publications in peer-reviewed journals, 5 published patents, 2 pending patents, awards from the US National Institute of Health, National Cancer Institute, Tulane University and College de France. He also holds a certificate in Biotechnology Project Management and a certificate in Business Administration from the University of Washington. In addition, Dr. Lamharzi has significant teaching experience as well as supervision and management of laboratory personnel.
Before starting Oncotherapy Solutions LLC, Dr. Lamharzi joined Nastech Pharmaceuticals where he made substantial contributions to the development of intranasal delivery systems for peptide drugs such as calcitonin, insulin and peptide YY. He also developed and screened hundreds of peptide- and lipid-based siRNA delivery systems targeting TNF-alpha for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and targeting influenza virus for treatment of pandemic flu. While at Nastech, he worked in collaborative projects with Merck, Procter & Gamble and Par Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Lamharzi also trained PhD scientists and research associates in cell biology, molecular biology, drug formulation and delivery. Dr. Lamharzi gained further expertise in drug delivery, development of in-vitro high throughput screening assays and selection of lead compounds as well as design and analysis of PK/PD studies. Dr. Lamharzi successfully collaborated internally with scientists from the organic chemistry, analytical chemistry and formulation departments. His tremendous contributions resulted in 2 US patents, a publication in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a poster presentation at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.
From 1999-2004, Dr. Lamharzi worked at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington where he led efforts in research projects on prostate cancer genetics as well as the effect of diabetes and high cholesterol on cardiovascular disease. These studies resulted in 4 publications in peer-reviewed journals, multiple presentations at national conferences and 2 awards from the US National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Lamharzi established collaborations with scientists from the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Swedish Medical Center. In addition, he trained and supervised graduate students in laboratory research technologies.
From 1995-1998, Dr. Lamharzi was Acting Instructor Faculty at Tulane University in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Schally, a Nobel laureate in medicine. While at Tulane, Dr. Lamharzi made excellent discoveries in term of development and testing of new anti-cancer drugs on prostate, breast, colon, ovarian and lung cancers in-vitro and in-vivo. Some of these drug candidates are currently in the market or in late clinical trials. These studies resulted in 11 publications in peer-reviewed journals including two in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and one in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Lamharzi established fruitful collaborations with scientists from Tulane University, Veterans Affairs Hospital as well as from renowned outside institutions. He also supervised, mentored and trained graduate students in Dr. Schally's laboratory and subsequently was recognized with achievement awards from Tulane University and Veterans Affairs Hospital.
From 1991-1995, Dr. Lamharzi worked on his doctoral thesis at the College De France where he characterized 2 molecules involved in calcium metabolism with clinical applications in osteoporosis. He published 3 papers in peer-reviewed journals, mentored undergraduate students in the lab and worked in collaborative projects with scientists from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM, Paris, France). In addition, he received a fellowship award from College De France and had a high school biology teaching position. Dr. Lamharzi received his PhD with high honors from the University of Aix-Marseille in 1995 before joining the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Schally at Tulane University.
From 1989-1991, Dr. Lamharzi complemented his previous studies and obtained a bachelor degree in Biology/Microbiology from the University of Joseph Fourier, Grenoble France and a master degree in Marine Biotechnology from the University of Aix-Marseille-II, France. As part of the master degree requirement, Dr. Lamharzi successfully conducted and published his research studies in collaboration with scientists from College De France and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM, Paris France).