Ed Scolnick endows HMS professorship in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology

Edward “Ed” Scolnick, AB ’61, MD ’65, has dedicated his career to advancing the frontiers of drug discovery. Now, he’s helping ensure that future generations of scientists can continue to push those frontiers at Harvard Medical School.

With a $5 million gift, Scolnick is establishing the Edward M. Scolnick Professorship within the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology (BCMP) at HMS, supporting a professor or associate professor whose work focuses on therapeutics development. 

“I spent a lot of my career making important drugs, and the key is to understand the biochemistry of a disease so you know where to stimulate or interrupt it,” says Scolnick, who served for more than 20 years as president of Merck Research Laboratories. During his tenure, he helped guide the development of landmark therapies, including the first effective HIV treatments and widely used cholesterol-lowering statins. Earlier in his career, Scolnick discovered the RAS oncogene and its biochemistry—foundational work that, decades later, has contributed to the development of an effective experimental KRAS‑targeted drug now being used to treat pancreatic cancer in clinical trials. “Endowing this professorship will really help HMS and emphasize the importance of biochemistry in drug discovery.”

Stephen Blacklow, AB ’83, MD ’91, PhD ’91, the Gustavus Adolphus Pfeiffer Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and chair of BCMP, says the department excels in the elucidation of molecular mechanisms in biology and disease, emphasizing molecular, structural, and chemical approaches to understanding form and function. Research at the molecular level deepens understanding of how biological systems work and are disrupted in disease. It also defines molecular targets for therapeutic intervention and enables the development of tools to precisely modulate those targets. 

Of the seven HMS researchers elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2026 for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, three are faculty members in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology: Stephen Blacklow, Jon Clardy, and Johannes Walter.

Blacklow says realizing the full potential of this science takes time and sustained focus, making Scolnick’s gift especially meaningful right now. “With external funding under increasing pressure, philanthropic support is critical to ensuring that important long‑term research can move forward,” he says. “This gift will provide durable support for an outstanding faculty member and the flexibility to pursue work that requires enduring commitment.”

HMS Dean George Q. Daley, AB ’82, MD ’91, PhD, says he is profoundly grateful to Scolnick for endowing this professorship. “By focusing it on therapeutics development, Ed is strengthening a core area of discovery at HMS that will ultimately benefit patients around the world.”

Learn how HMS is propelling research that transforms patient care

Scolnick speaks with great affection about HMS and the education he received, which he credits with having an enormously positive influence on his career and opening doors to formative opportunities, including his training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He credits HMS and MGH with instilling both scientific rigor and a strong ethical compass. 

“HMS and MGH provided me not only with an excellent education about disease mechanisms and biochemistry but also with an ethical standard to guide my decision-making in difficult situations,” says Scolnick, a core member emeritus of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and founding director and chief scientist emeritus of Broad’s Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. “That training enabled me, when I was at Merck, to always act in the best interests of patients. I’m extremely grateful for that.”

For Scolnick, the new professorship is a way to give back to the institution that shaped his life—and to the field he loves.

“I think biochemistry is the key discipline for understanding the detailed mechanisms that cause disease and for enabling us to think creatively about how to alter those pathways to develop better treatments,” he says. “Fortunately, I have the resources, so I wanted to give back. It’s really gratifying.”