Daily News

UMass Taps Peter Reinhart to Lead Institute for Applied Life Sciences

AMHERST — UMass Amherst has hired veteran biopharmaceutical executive and researcher Peter Reinhart to be the founding director of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS). The institute was created in 2013 with $150 million in capital funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) and additional contributions from the university to accelerate life-science research and advance collaboration with industry.

Reinhart comes to the university from Alzehon, a Lexington, Mass. company where he most recently was the head of corporate development and new products for the firm, which is focused on brain health, memory, and aging and development of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Prior to that, he was chief scientific officer and then president at Proteostasis Therapeutics, and head of Neurodegeneration at Wyeth/Pfizer. He has also been an adjunct associate professor of Neuroscience at the Duke University Medical Center for the past decade and was a tenured professor at the center for nearly 13 years prior to that.

Michael Malone, UMass Amherst’s vice chancellor for Research and Engagement, said hiring Reinhart is a significant milestone in developing the IALS. “His extensive experience in both academic and industrial biomedical research and training, and his passion for advancing life sciences, is the perfect background for leading the growth of the three IALS Centers.”

Kumble Subbaswamy, UMass Amherst chancellor, noted that IALS is a critical part of the university’s strategy for innovation and impact in the life-sciences ecosystem in Massachusetts and beyond. “As founding director, Peter Reinhart will play a critical role in shaping and expanding our collaborations on campus with industry and with colleagues at other UMass campuses.”

Reinhart said this is a position that is well-suited to his experience and skills. “Having spent significant time in large pharma, biotechnology companies, as well as in academia allows me to understand the strengths and needs of each of these organizations. This experience will be useful both in advancing alliances across the UMass campuses to combine assets and capabilities, and in utilizing such assets to develop industry partnerships.”

The MLSC funding, a capital grant of $95 million, is the largest economic-development grant in the history of the UMass system and the largest grant the MLSC has awarded as part of the Commonwealth’s $1 billion, 10-year, life-sciences economic-development initiative.