Therapeutic Window: Sy Schlager Keeps Your Doctor up to Speed
The Vital Role of Sy Schlager in Ground-Breaking Research
Posted on 18. Jun, 2011 by admin in Uncategorized
At a time in his life when it might have been expected that Sy Schlager had found his niche with a successful private practice specializing in internal medicine, he decided to follow his heart and gave it all up. As crazy as this may seem to the rest of us, Sy Schlager still had an awful lot to give and the world of immunology was his passion.
Where better to take his great knowledge and expertise than the AIDS and antiviral program at Abbott Laboratories. As can be expected, Sy Schlager did not have a minor role here; he did, in fact, lead the project and was the business head of the venture. He was responsible for directing the development of all the antiviral efforts, which included developing the HIV protease inhibitor, and also clarithromycin, which is used to treat Mycobacterial infections that AIDS patients can suffer from.
At this time, Sy Schlager was also concerned with the public perception of AIDS and so was heavily involved with marketing support for the antiviral program. He even took on the role of the primary Public Relations liaison for Abbott Laboratories, as well as for AIDS activist groups, which included becoming involved with many different forms of media.
It was vitally important to Sy Schlager that the public were aware of the progresses that were made in AIDS research, and so worked tirelessly to make sure that all of the up to date information about AIDS was provided. It was his goal to bring cutting edge technology into the field so that all avenues into the research of AIDS could be explored.
Sy Schlager’s position as Venture Head meant that he was also able to direct Phase I-III clinical trials in many areas. These included anti-infectives, which is a new quinolone compound; anti-hypertensives, which is a renin inhibitor; CNS, which is an anti-seizure medication; and anti-inflammatory agents.
After his time at Abbott Laboratories, Sy Schlager was a founding member of Academic Pharmaceuticals, which focused its attention onto orphan drugs. These are the drugs that are the pharmaceutical agents designed to treat rare medical complaints. It is the development of these orphan drugs that have led to many major medical breakthroughs. Schlager continued his research and it was under his direction that the preclinical development of some compounds was achieved.
It is safe to say that the medical world has a lot to thank Sy Schlager for.