Conference Chairman

Harold C. Smith, Ph.D.
Conference Chairman - Drug Discovery 2019

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry, NY, USA
Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology
Founder and CEO, OyaGen, Inc, NY, USA

Dr. Smith earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from SUNY at Buffalo, following earning his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University. His postdoctoral research was conducted at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a full Professor in Biochemistry, Biophysics at the University of Rochester, School of Dentistry and Medicine, and is a Member of the University’s Cancer Center and Center for RNA Biology. Dr. Smith’s research has been supported through grants from the NIH and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States Air Force and the Office of Naval Research. He is the author of more than 141 peer-reviewed manuscripts and reviews during his career, exceeding more than 9,973 citations. He is a member of the RNA Society, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and International Society for Antiviral Research. He received the SUNY at Buffalo's Distinguished Alumni Award as well as several teaching and mentoring awards from the University of Rochester. Dr. Smith is an opinion leader in RNA and DNA editing. He established the first in an ongoing Gordon Research Conference series on RNA and DNA Editing and Modification. In 2003, Dr. Smith founded OyaGen, Inc. The company’s current leads are in preclinical development as first-in-class antiviral therapeutics for HIV and Ebola. In 2016, Dr. Smith founded CannaMetrix, LLC with the goal of establishing human cell-based, high throughput assays to quantify cannabis product potency and consistency using biological standards.