Alex Burgin, Ph.D.

Alex Burgin is an institute scientist and the senior director of the Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT) at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He uses his academic and industry experience to help Broad researchers move their biological insights closer to becoming new therapeutics. CDoT has contributed to six different programs that have reached human clinical trials and out-licensed another seven programs to different biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Burgin currently oversees all of CDoT’s drug discovery projects, often executed in close collaboration with industry partners, and the creation of new technologies including fully automated antibody discovery and novel image-based pooled screening technologies.

Burgin has over 30 years’ experience spanning both academia and the private sector. He started his career as group leader at Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals and then joined the faculty of San Diego State University, where he ran an active research and training program. He then moved his lab to Emerald BioStructures where, as chief operating officer and then as chief scientific officer, he led multiple small molecule and biologics discovery projects. For example, he led discovery teams that identified the first allosteric modulator of PDE4 resulting in the development of zatolmilast, and the first allosteric inhibitor of TNFa resulting in the development of balinatunfib. Burgin also has significant business experience helping manage the company through an acquisition by deCODE genetics in 2002 (creating deCODE biostructures) and subsequently launching Beryllium Discovery, a specialized drug discovery contract research organization in 2009. Beryllium was acquired by UCB pharma in 2017.

After leaving industry, Burgin served as the senior scientific advisor to the Broad’s chief scientific officer helping to manage a wide range of complex scientific and institutional challenges. In 2019, he served as executive director at the Institute for Protein Innovation, and returned to the Broad in 2021.

Burgin holds an A.B. from Wabash College and a Ph.D. in genetics from Indiana University.