Biographical
Sketch
Stewart Lyman, Ph.D, has
over 35 years’ experience in research and biotechnology. In
2004 he started Lyman BioPharma Consulting LLC to offer
three primary services: (1) advice on how to set up and run
successful collaborations with outside investigators,
either academic or in industry; (2) technology and science
assessment, with a special focus on developing agonists and
antagonists for tyrosine kinase and other receptors, and
(3) strategic research planning and competitive
analysis.
Dr. Lyman joined Immunex Corporation in 1988 as a molecular
biologist and continuously assumed greater scientific
responsibility during his 14 year tenure. Within a year of
joining the company he initiated the largest research
project in Immunex's history, Receptors in Search of
Ligands (RISOL). The RISOL project cloned eight unique
cytokines/growth factors, thanks to Dr. Lyman’s insight
that cloned receptors could be used as tools to identify
their unknown ligands. Subsequently Dr. Lyman chaired
numerous projects at Immunex in signal transduction,
molecular biology, and hematology/oncology.
Dr. Lyman has cloned several growth factors, including
Ephrin B1 and human TSLP, and has identified ligands for
CD7, CD44, and the c-kit
tyrosine
kinase receptor. His most significant scientific
accomplishment was cloning flt3 ligand, an early acting
hematopoietic growth factor and key regulator of dendritic
cell proliferation. After designing the clinical form of
flt3, he helped lead flt3 into clinical trials for stem
cell mobilization and cancer immunotherapy.
In 1998, Dr. Lyman joined the Immunex Scientific Management
Team as Director of Extramural Research, and for the next
four years ran the largest extramural research program in
the United States. His group managed more than 2500
research collaborations, shipping over 1000 distinct
reagents to over 1000 scientific and industrial groups at
institutions worldwide. He was also responsible for the
initial review of all in-licensing opportunities. As
Director, he developed an innovative system for timely
collection, distribution, and storage of data from
collaborators, and his emphasis on inspecting
collaborators’ data for intellectual property opportunities
significantly expanded Immunex’s patent portfolio.
Dr. Lyman holds 24 US patents and has authored or
co-authored 129 scientific publications
as well as
numerous articles on collaboration
management and Op-Ed pieces on biotechnology
issues. He has been invited to give presentations
about
cytokines and their receptors at numerous national and
international meetings. He served on the scientific
advisory board of Modern Drug
Discovery magazine and is a
member of the AAAS. He also acts as a grant reviewer for
the WA State Life Sciences Discovery Fund
and is a
member of screening committee of the commercialization
promoting Technology Alliance.
Dr. Lyman received his B.S. degree from the State
University of New York at Albany and his Doctorate in
Oncology from the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining
Immunex he conducted postdoctoral research at the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
