Diamedica Inc.

Scientific Advisory Board




John Amatruda, MD
Dr. John Amatruda is a senior pharmaceutical research executive, and the former Senior Vice President and Franchise Head for Diabetes and Obesity at Merck Research Laboratories.  Under Dr. Amatruda’s leadership, the development program and regulatory approvals of JanuviaTM and JanumetTM – the first compounds in the important class of DPP-IV inhibitors for Type 2 diabetes – were initiated and completed. He was also a member of the Research Management Committee and acting Therapeutic Area Head for Cardiovascular Disease while at Merck.


More recently, Dr. Amatruda was on the Scientific Advisory Board of Marcadia Biotech Inc., a preclinical stage Type 2 diabetes / obesity company that was acquired by Roche Holding Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland in December, 2010.


In addition to his tenure at Merck, Dr. Amatruda started and ran a drug discovery group at Bayer Corp where he served as Vice President and Therapeutic Area Research Head for Metabolic Disorders research, as well as a Professor of Medicine Adjunct at Yale University School of Medicine.  He is board certified in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism and has a proven track record in academics and pharmaceutical discovery research and development, including several novel candidate compounds, Investigational New Drugs (INDs), translational studies, development programs and four New Drug Applications (NDAs).


Dr. Amatruda is an author on over 150 papers, abstracts, reviews and book chapters, primarily in the areas of insulin action in vitro systems and in clinical diabetes and obesity.  He graduated from Yale University, received his MD degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and did his internship and residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.


 
  

  

    





Paul Burn, Ph.D. | Director of The Sanford Project and Professor of Pediatrics, Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota.
Dr. Burn currently serves as the Broin Chair and Director for The Sanford Project, an emerging translational research center focused on identifying and delivering a cure for Type 1 diabetes. He also holds an appointment as Professor of Pediatrics at the Sanford School of Medicine of The University of South Dakota.


Prior to the appointment at Sanford Health, Dr. Burn served in the position of Senior Vice President of Research & Development at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).  Dr. Burn gained international industry R&D experience as Director of Metabolic Research & Development at Bayer Health Care; at Eli Lilly & Company where he held the position of Director of Endocrine Research & Clinical Investigation; as Vice President of Research & Development at Monsanto/Pharmacia; and at Hoffman-La Roche as the Global Head for the Metabolic Diseases Therapeutic Area and as Vice President of Biotechnology.


Dr. Burn’s business expertise includes establishing and leading alliances with strategic partners and in- and out-licensing of compounds and projects.  In addition, he has facilitated a portfolio of 52 clinical trials, served as a consultant to several major pharmaceutical companies and has streamlined the programs of acquired or merged companies.


 
  

  

    





Alan Cherrington, Ph.D. | Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt University
Dr. Cherrington currently holds Professorships in both the Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics and in the Department of Medicine. He is also the Associate Director of the Diabetes Research and Training Center.  Dr. Cherrington served as Chairman of the Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Department from 1998-2007 and was president of the American Diabetes Association in 2004-05.  He currently holds the Jacquelyn A. Turner and Dr. Dorothy J. Turner Chair in Diabetes Research.



Dr. Cherrington has been the recipient of numerous awards, including two awards presented by the American Diabetes Association: the Lilly Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement and the Frederick Banting Award for Career Scientific Achievement. He has also received the David Rumbough Award for scientific achievement from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.



Dr. Cherrington’s work over the years has defined the effects of various hormonal and neuronal factors on liver glucose metabolism in the normal and diabetic state.  Specifically, he has characterized the effects of insulin, glucagon, cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine on the rates of hepatic glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis in vivo.  He has also studied the response of the liver to glucose ingestion and has shown that postprandial glycogen deposition is dependent not only on the availability of glucose and insulin, but equally on an additional "portal glucose” signal.  Dr. Cherrington has significantly advanced our understanding of the way in which hormones and neural mediators regulate the ability of the liver to supply glucose in times of need and to store it in times of plenty.



Dr. Cherrington received his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of New Brunswick in 1967 and his PhD in Physiology from the University of Toronto, where he worked with Dr. Mladen Vranic, in 1973.  He then undertook postgraduate training with Dr. Rollo Park at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

 


 
  

  

    





Daniel Porte Jr., MD | Professor of Medicine, University of California San Diego
Dr. Porte is Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington and past president of the American Diabetes Association. He has served as an advisor to the National Institute of Heath (NIH) including service on the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD) council and published extensively over his career.  Among his 350+ publications, Dr. Porte is best known for his contributions to our understanding of the regulation of the endocrine pancreas and its role in Type 2 diabetes and obesity, as well as studies of the importance of hyperglycemia to the neuropathic complications of diabetes. 



Dr. Porte’s present interests include the mechanism for the regulation of the alpha cells secretion of glucagon by the central nervous system, in addition to pancreatic beta-cell related hormones and neuropeptides.  Further interests extend to the role of insulin in brain function, glucose homeostasis and body weight regulation and the physiology of the incretin hormones in plasma glucose control and diabetes therapy.

Dr. Porte received his M.D. from the University of Chicago Medical School (with Honors) and completed his residency at the VA Hospital and UC San Francisco Moffitt Hospital.