Dennis Liotta, Ph.D., has helped to transform HIV/AIDS from a death sentence to a chronic infection in which patients are able to live active, near normal lives. The Emory University Office of Technology Transfer estimates that greater than 90 percent of all of the HIV-infected persons in the U.S. take (or have taken) one of the drugs he invented. Over the past two and a half decades, Dr. Liotta’s research has focused on the discovery and development of novel antiviral, anticancer and anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents. He is one of the leaders of the Emory team that discovered the antiviral drug, Emtriva® (emtricitabine), which was approved for treating HIV in July 2003. Emtriva is a component of the ground breaking, once-a-day, triple-combination therapy, Atripla®, which is now universally accepted as the drug combination of choice for treating HIV-infected patients. In addition, he is the inventor of record for several clinically important antivirals, including lamivudine, Reverset®, Racivir® and elvucitabine. He is also the lead inventor of Q-122, a safe, orally available clinical agent for controlling hot flashes in post-menopausal women. Dr. Liotta received his Ph.D. from CUNY and is a Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Chemistry at Emory University where he has been for 40 years. He has received numerous awards during his tenure including Distinguished Faculty Lecturer and the Emory Williams Award. He has been inducted into the National Academy of Inventors for his contributions to drug discovery and development, as well as to the ACS (American Chemical Society) Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame.

drug discovery and development