Contact: Ellen Bank
843.792.2626
April 24, 2003
CHARLESTON, SC -- The 174th Medical University of South Carolina commencement ceremony will be held 9 a.m. on May 16 on the campus horseshoe. Approximately 715 students are expected to receive degrees from the university’s six colleges.
Philip Needleman, Ph.D., of Creve Coeur, Missouri, the chief
scientific officer at Pharmacia, Inc., will present the commencement address.
Needleman spent more than a decade – first in academia and then in industry
– developing Celebrex as an arthritis medicine. His vision is future development
of the drug as an anti-cancer medication. Needleman also will be honored with
a Doctor of Science, honoris
causa.
Five other individuals will receive honorary degrees at the commencement ceremony. They are: Charles W. Coker, chairman of the board, Sonoco Corporation in Hartsville (Doctor of Humane Letters); John R. Fulp, Jr. of Anderson, owner and president of Vanguard Industries, Inc. and chairman of the board of the Abney Foundation (Doctor of Humane Letters); Mary Starke Harper, Ph.D., D.Sc., RN, Johnson & Johnson consultant for the Roslyn Carter Institute for Family Caregiving and Human Development (Doctor of Science, honoris causa); The Honorable Thomas G. Keegan representative of Dist. No. 106, Horry County, South Carolina House of Representatives (Doctor of Humane Letters); and The Honorable Robert V. Royall, United States Ambassador, United Republic of Tanzania (Doctor of Humane Letters).
“Dr. Needleman combines intellect, with vision, enthusiasm
and charisma to be
one of the most effective leaders in science and the pharmaceutical industry,”
said Perry Halushka, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the College of Graduate Studies, “Not
only has he developed the number one launched drug of all time, he has also
been instrumental in developing the careers of many successful scientists.”
Needleman and his research team were responsible for the basic
research
on the Cox-2 enzyme inhibitor that led to the development of CELEBREX, a drug
that has brought relief of symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
to millions of adults. Cox 1 regulates normal body function, making blood clot
and protecting the lining of the stomach. Cox 2 triggers pain and inflammation.
The early nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as aspirin and
ibuprofen inhibited both the Cox 1 and Cox 2 enzymes, reducing pain and inflammation,
but also causing stomach ulcers. Needleman and his team developed NSAIDS to
inhibit only the Cox 2 enzyme. This drug is not necessarily more
effective at reducing inflammation and pain than the older NSAIDS, but represents
an advance over the older anti-inflammatory drugs because it does not cause
ulcers.
Needleman is currently interested in developing the drug for treatment of a variety of cancers. He believes that the COX-2 enzyme also may fuel the growth of cancer so that a drug that inhibits this enzyme would be a potential cancer drug – one that is safe with few side effects. There are, in fact, ongoing clinical trials of the drug for treatment of colon cancer.
Needleman is a former chairman of Washington University Department
of
Pharmacology. There he was named Basic Science Teacher of the Year five times.
A member of Rho Chi, the academic honor society in pharmacy, and Alpha Omega
Alpha, the honor medical society, Needleman holds a large number of honors.
These include the Industrial Research Institute Medal, the St. Louis Academy
of Sciences Peter H. Raven Lifetime Award, the New York Arthritis Foundation
Award, the Chicago Arthritis Foundation Award and the Missouri Arthritis Foundation
Award.
Needleman was elected a member of the National Academy of
Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
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