Frank Zenke PhD

Frank Zenke, Ph.D. studied biology at the Ruhr-University Bochum and Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany, and received his Ph.D. in biology in 1995. During his subsequent postdoctoral stay at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, USA, Dr. Zenke investigated the role of small GTPases and their effector protein kinase, p21-activated protein kinase, on cellular signaling in mammalian cells. Dr. Zenke started as a laboratory head at Merck KGaA in Darmstadt, Germany in 2001, acquiring broad experience in numerous preclinical drug discovery and clinical-stage projects. Dr. Zenke has been significantly involved in establishing several projects to evaluate the DNA Damage Response (DDR) as a target in anticancer therapy, including inhibitors of DNA-dependent protein kinase, ataxia-telangiectasia mutated protein kinase, and ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related protein kinase, all of which are currently in clinical development. Currently, Dr. Zenke is managing a global DDR research team with discovery and translational research laboratories in Billerica, Massachusetts, USA, and Darmstadt, Germany.