Karen Marquis, Ph.D.

Associate Director and Head, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders Therapy Area in Discovery Neuroscience, Wyeth Research

"Having worked in animal research for almost 20 years, I've had the opportunity to realize the enormous value of these endeavors. Beginning with the study of models of addiction and then later entering the field of drug discovery, I've recognized that advances in the treatment of many psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases will only be gained with what we can learn and discover through animal models. As our understanding increases, our ability to model the disease improves through genetic and behavioral manipulations in animal research. Through these efforts we improve our chances of defining innovative therapeutics in the area of psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases."

Dr. Marquis leads a team of scientists focused on developing a research strategy in the schizophrenia and bipolar disorders drug discovery arena. As the Discovery Leader on the Global Development Teams, she is also involved in Wyeth Research Interactions with the Applied Neurotherapeutic Research Group, an organization engaged in a cutting-edge approach to new gene targets important to synaptic plasticity events.

Since joining Wyeth, Dr. Marquis' efforts have been critical to the successful identification of aplindore, a unique dopamine partial agonist for the treatment of schizophrenia. She has led her team in developing a compelling preclinical profile of a selective 5-HT 2c agonist, implemented a novel cognitive assay that has become critical in demonstrating pro-cognitive effects for several approaches to Alzheimer's disease, and helped to develop a behavioral phenotyping test battery that allows the efficient screening of a variety of genetically modified animals, thus evaluating the potential therapeutic value of novel targets and also providing some unique treatment/disease models.

Dr. Marquis received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Mississippi and, after completing a postdoctoral fellowship, served as Research Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland at Baltimore.