Gregory R J Thatcher, PhD

Clinical and Translational Oncology Program

Biography

Thatcher joined the University of Arizona in 2020 from the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy at UIC. In his career, he has graduated 55 students with PhD’s and training in biological and medicinal chemistry and all aspects of drug discovery from conception through clinical trials. Thatcher founded a campus-wide and disease-agnostic drug discovery center at UIC, focused on small molecule drug discovery, which continues to play an active role in academic drug discovery across Chicago. Dr. Thatcher created his first start-up biotech company in 1997, which successfully took an Alzheimer’s drugs into human clinical trials and continues to move his research forwards directly to benefit human health.

Cancer Focus

Building upon 20 years of experience in estrogens and breast cancer, Thatcher’s research has resulted in two small molecules that have recently completed Phase 1 trials in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. A focus on endocrine-resistance has led to exploitation of epigenetic mechanisms for targeted therapeutics to overcome resistance and current research is exploring combinations with checkpoint inhibitors. This research and other kinase inhibitor projects have shifted focus to pancreatic cancer although other solid tumors are also of interest. Thatcher was founder/leader of the Translational Oncology Program in the University of Illinois Cancer Center before moving to UA.