Dr. Blass received his B.S. in Chemistry from Emory University in 1990 and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1994 from the University of Rochester under the direction of Andrew S. Kende.  Upon completion of his doctoral program, Dr. Blass pursued a career in drug discovery and development with Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals (Cincinnati, OH 1994-2006) and Wyeth Research (2006-2010).   Over the course of his industrial career, Dr. Blass conducted research on a wide range of disease states through the careful application of medicinal chemistry strategy and drug design principles.  He and his research teams produced novel chemical matter to address chronic pain, inflammation, cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, arthritis, heart failure, peripheral artery disease, acute coronary syndrome, and atrial fibrillation, producing multiple pre-clinical and clinical candidates.  He is the principle author or co-author on fifty patents, publications, and invited lectureships and is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as patent agent.

 His research interests are developing novel chemical matter to address chronic pain, inflammation, cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, arthritis, heart failure, peripheral artery disease, acute coronary syndrome, and atrial fibrillation, producing multiple pre-clinical and clinical candidates.