Aaron C. Pawlyk, PhD, joined the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) as its OPPTB chief in 2019. His long-term research interests and experience include drug discovery and pre-clinical development, pharmacogenomics, and mathematical modeling, especially how these approaches can be applied across multiple therapeutic areas.
Prior to joining NICHD, Dr. Pawlyk served at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) as a program director and senior advisor in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases. At NIDDK, his portfolio included drug discovery, pharmacogenomics, and drug response research. He directed the Type 1 Diabetes-Rapid Access to Interventional Development program, which offered preclinical development contract services to outside researchers. As a program official, he managed cooperative agreement components of the Accelerating Medicines Partnership for Type 2 Diabetes and initiated and directed a trans-NIDDK program on therapeutics translation. He continues to serve as a coordinator of the NIH Common Fund program, Illuminating the Druggable Genome.
Dr. Pawlyk received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied biology and biochemistry. He completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry at Texas A&M University, followed by postdoctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining NIH, he held multiple positions in the pharmaceutical sector.