Philip Needleman, Ph.D.

Interim President, Danforth Plant Science Center

Philip Needleman brings over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience along with 20+ years in academia and research to the Nidus Board. Previous roles include Chairman of Research and Development of Pharmacia, Chief Scientific Officer of Pharmacia Corporation, Chief Scientist at Monsanto, President of Searle Pharmaceutical Company, and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently serving as Interim President of the Danforth Plant Science Center while at the same time holding the position of Scientific Partner with Prospect Venture Partners in San Francisco.

Needleman has garnered numerous honors and awards including the Research Achievement Award from the American Heart Association (1988); Washington University’s Distinguished Faculty Award (1987); Industrial Research Institute Medal (2001) and the NASA Award for the Industrial Application of Science (2005). In 1987, Needleman was elected to the National Academy of Science.

Needleman is a member of Washington University Board of Trustees, the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Board, Saint Louis Science Center and the Plant and the Coalition of Plant & Life Sciences.

Needleman received his B.Sc. in Pharmacy and M.Sc. in Pharmacology from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Maryland Medical School, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Washington University Medical School.