Alumnus Richard DiMarchi Honored for Pioneering Research in Obesity Drug Discovery

Richard DiMarchi, Ph.D., B.S. ’74, was honored with the prestigious 2024 Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The recognition celebrates his groundbreaking research which has paved the way for revolutionary drugs that have reshaped the landscape of obesity treatment on a global scale.

Photo credit: Indiana University

DiMarchi and co-recipient Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, chief scientific advisor at Novo Nordisk, were selected for their decades of transformative work to advance understanding of GLP-1 agonists. The award, established in 2022, honors up to three scientists whose foundational research and activities best exemplify the Science Breakthrough of the Year.

“It is amazingly gratifying and humbling to see that these drugs have progressed to become miraculous molecules that restore health and a fuller, more prosperous life,” expressed DiMarchi.

DiMarchi’s research has championed the biosynthesis and chemical optimization of macromolecules, such as peptides and proteins, with enhanced therapeutic properties. He has spent much of his career focused on improving countless lives of individuals with diabetes, and in more recent decades, obesity. His latest discovery has set an important precedent in drug development for complex diseases.

“I have had the great pleasure to serve at the forefront of macromolecular chemistry to discover medicines that have had a huge impact on diabetes, osteoporosis and now obesity,” DiMarchi said. “The future is laden with opportunities to improve the quality and quantity of life, and chemistry stands tall in the process.”

Today, DiMarchi is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Gill Chair in Biomolecular Sciences at Indiana University, where he previously served as chairman of the Chemistry Department. But his early academic career began as an undergraduate student at a fledgling Florida Atlantic University.

“FAU provided the fundamental instruction in scientific principles and experimental design,” recalled DiMarchi. “The university was relatively young — less than a decade of age — and filled with aspirations to do great things. It was a phenomenal teaching institution, as the faculty was also rather young, state-of-the-art, and the student-teaching ratio was low. I was extremely well-prepared to begin graduate study in a world-class chemistry department, focused on macromolecular chemistry just as biotechnology was emerging.”

While DiMarchi remembers all FAU chemistry faculty were excellent in their individual disciplines, Tony Lombardo, Ph.D., a relatively new assistant professor at the time, served as his primary mentor. Lombardo, who was trained in organic chemistry and had a deep interest in the biological aspects of chemistry, was a very talented individual who went on to become a full professor and chairman of the Department of Chemistry, among other university roles before retiring as a professor emeritus.

Now a professor of many years himself, DiMarchi had some advice to aspiring future scientists and leaders.

“There is no better time than the present to commit to such a career,” shared DiMarchi. “What a great time to serve. I close with some advice I’ve given many students — when given the opportunity to get on a rocket ship, just get in and don’t fuss on the seating.”

DiMarchi is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and he is a former group vice president at Eli Lilly and later at Novo Nordisk. He is recognized for his contributions to the discovery and development of rDNA-derived Humalog®, rGlucagon®, and Forteo®.

Widely regarded as an international spokesperson for macromolecular medicines, DiMarchi is co-inventor of more than 100 U.S. patents and co-author of more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific publications. He was identified as a top five translation researcher by Nature Biotechnology in 2014 and 2015. Since 2003, he has co-founded eight successful biotechnology start-up companies. In the last decade, DiMarchi has received the Merrifield Award for career contributions in peptide sciences, the German National Erwin Schrödinger-Preis, the Meienhofer Prize, the Max Bergmann Medal, the ACS Alfred Burger career award in medicinal chemistry, and the 2023 AAAS Bhaumik Breakthrough Award for GLP-1 Rx in obesity.

Article header photo credit: Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences