Sarah Grimwood, Ph.D.

Head of Portfolio, Strategy & Operations

Group: Rare Disease Research Unit
Location: Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA
LinkedIn page URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-grimwood-632a732/

I am responsible for overseeing Rare Disease Research Unit (RDRU) Portfolio progression up to Phase 2 Clinical Proof of Concept and supporting the design of strategies and initiatives to maintain and grow a high-performing research unit.

From 2017 – 2020 I served as the RDRU Chief of Staff and my previous background includes 27 years of Neuroscience drug discovery experience from Merck and Pfizer. I obtained my PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Hertfordshire, UK, and have I published > 60 peer-reviewed articles. I have led multi-disciplinary laboratories and numerous cross-functional teams, including portfolio project teams from Exploratory to Phase 1 stages. From 2010-2016 I served on a National Institute of Health Drug Discovery for Aging, Neuropsychiatric and Neurologic Disorders, Small Business Review Panel.

I have a passion for mentoring and developing colleagues and I led the Pfizer Kendall Square Women's Leadership Network from 2016 - 2020. In 2015 I was recognized as a Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) Rising Star, for leadership and significant scientific and business impact across Pfizer, and in 2018 I was presented with a Leadership Award from Women in the Enterprise of Science & Technology (WEST).

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Grimwood, S. and Hartig, P. (2009) Target Site Occupancy: Emerging Generalizations from Clinical and Preclinical Studies. Pharmacology and Therapeutics 122, 281-301. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19306894
Finnema, S.J., Scheinin, M., Shahid, M., Lehto, J., Borroni, E., Bang-Andersen, B., Sallinen, J., Shahid, M., Wong, E., Farde, L., Halldin C., and Grimwood, S. (2015) Application of cross-species PET imaging to assess neurotransmitter release in brain. Psychopharmacology 232(21-22), 4129–4157. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Grimwood+S
Davoren, J.E., Garnsey, M., Pettersen, B., Brodney, M.A., Edgerton, J.R., Fortin, J.P., Grimwood, S., Harris, A.R., Jenkinson, S., Kenakin, T., Lazzaro, J.T., Lee, C.W., Lotarski, S.M., Nottebaum, L., O'Neil, S.V., Popiolek, M., Ramsey, S., Steyn, S.J., Thorn, C.A., Zhang, L., Webb, D. (2017) Design and Synthesis of γ- and δ-Lactam M1 Positive Allosteric Modulators (PAMs): Convulsion and Cholinergic Toxicity of an M1-Selective PAM with Weak Agonist Activity. J Med Chem. 60(15): 6649-6663. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2859863
Wager, T.T., Galatsis, P., Chandrasekaran, R.Y., Butler, T.W., Li, J., Zhang, L., Mente, S., Subramanyam, C., Liu, S., Doran, A.C., Chang, C., Fisher, K., Grimwood, S., Hedde, J.R., Marconi, M., Schildknegt, K. (2017) Identification and Profiling of a Selective and Brain Penetrant Radioligand for in Vivo Target Occupancy Measurement of Casein Kinase 1 (CK1) Inhibitors. ACS Chem Neurosci. 8(9): 1995-2004. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=10.1021%2Facschemneuro.7b00155