Southern Research Appoints Drug Discovery VP

Mark J. Suto, Ph.D., has been named vice president of the Drug Discovery Division at Southern Research Institute. Dr. Suto and his team will focus on basic research, target identification, lead discovery, and optimization of new therapies for cancer, infectious diseases and neurological diseases and disorders.
 
“Mark Suto has demonstrated outstanding scientific and management skills in his career, and adds tremendous strength to our Drug Discovery program,” said Jack Secrist, president and chief executive officer. “He will bring new energy to Southern Research at a time when our clients need help in expanding their drug candidate pipelines, and when we are investing internal research dollars into developing our own proprietary technologies.”
 
Dr. Suto joins the company from Icagen, Inc., where he served as vice president of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences since April 2004. Prior to that, Dr. Suto was executive vice president and chief scientific officer of Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He also held senior management roles at DuPont Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Deltagen Research Laboratories, a subsidiary of Deltagen, Inc.