Dinesh Patel, a former Indian American Rutgers student, who is developing blockbuster new drug treatments is giving back to his alma mater with a fellowship supporting its chemistry lab.
Patel and his wife, Rajeshvari, who also completed chemistry graduate studies at Rutgers, have established a fellowship that supports Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) students conducting organic chemistry research. It also honors Spencer Knapp, a professor specializing in organic chemistry and drug design, who made Patel’s own Rutgers experience so vital.
Patel today runs a multibillion dollar biopharmaceutical firm, Protagonist Therapeutics, developing new treatments for illnesses that include inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and a rare blood cancer. He’s a noted figure in the biotech world, excelling as both a scientist and CEO.
In the Knapp lab, Patel found his calling—medicinal chemistry—and a teacher who was both a leading scholar in the field and a mentor committed to training young scientists in the work of improving human health through organic chemistry.
Knapp, a School of Arts and Sciences professor now in his 48th year at Rutgers, has mentored more than 200 students, often collaborating with them on research and journal articles. His research has expanded the understanding of numerous illnesses, from Alzheimer’s Disease to malaria, to various inflammatory conditions.
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Accordingly, the Dinesh and Rajeshvari Patel Endowed Graduate Fellowship provides financial support to CCB students conducting organic chemistry research in the Knapp lab.
It’s a powerful acknowledgment of Knapp’s influence as well as a testament to faculty mentors, says Lawrence Williams, chair of CCB in the School of Arts and Sciences.
For Knapp, the fellowship is particularly welcome at a time of sweeping federal cuts to science research.
“In the current climate, graduate support on research grants is in danger,” Knapp said. “There are very few fellowships available, especially to immigrant students. Something like Dinesh’s support comes in an era where we have almost nothing.”
The Patels, for their part, noted that they each received graduate assistantships at Rutgers that helped defray their education costs.
“We can never forget the extent to which we benefited from the support we received at Rutgers,” said Dinesh, who received his PhD in 1984. “It will be so satisfying for us to see the future students from the U.S. and all across the globe benefit in the same way we did.”
Rajeshvari agreed. “We want this scholarship to ease the financial burden for deserving graduate students, allowing them to focus on their research, studies, and professional growth,” said Rajeshvari, who received her master’s degree from Rutgers in 1985.
Both Dinesh and Rajeshvari grew up in India. They were close friends and top chemistry students. And they were shaped by strikingly different family backgrounds. The couple married in 1981 in the U.S.
After getting his PhD and then working his way up the ladder at Bristol Myers Squibb, Patel began charting his own direction. He moved to the Bay Area in the 1990s and co-founded two companies, including Vicuron, which was later acquired by Pfizer for $ 1.9 billion.
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“Creativity comes in different forms, and at the end of the day I realized I am an entrepreneur” he said. “I thrive on solving problems amid uncertainty.”
In 2008, with the Great Recession taking hold, Patel shifted gears and took a job as CEO of Protagonist, then a much smaller company based in Australia. It would prove to be his boldest creative act yet. He expanded the company, moved it to the U.S. and developed a pipeline of potential drugs.
Unlike other such treatments, the medications could be taken orally instead of through injections, thanks to a new technology developed by Patel and his team that used peptides rather than small molecules or large antibodies.
“I put all my chemistry knowhow into place, and then that crazy entrepreneurial, high-risk mindset kicks in,” he said. “And that was the whole journey.”
With its impressive array of treatments, Protagonist has enjoyed lucrative partnerships with Big Pharma, including Johnson & Johnson and Takeda. The company now has a market capitalization of over $5 billion.
Impressive as all that might seem, Patel stressed, it’s all traceable back to a Rutgers lab.
“It might seem like this magic formularization,” he said. “But the whole company is based on innovation and invention, and the core roots of that could be found from the training I had at Rutgers, and specifically under Spencer Knapp.”