The American Health Council Appoints Dr. James Bashkin, D.Phil. to the Physician Board

Dr. James K. Bashkin of St. Louis, Missouri, has been appointed as “Best in Medicine” by the American Health Council. Dr. Bashkin was appointed Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2011 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, having worked at that campus since 2003 since leaving his role as research advisor at Pfizer, previously Pharmacia and Monsanto. He first joined Monsanto in 1985 as a member of Corporate Research, rising to Research Specialist, and spent 1991-1999 as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis before returning to Monsanto. Dr. Bashkin was both postdoctoral fellow, and NIH postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University from 1982-5 under the direction of Professor R. H. Holm and completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford with Professor Malcolm L. H. Green. Previously, Dr. Bashkin studied at the University of Arizona and received his B.A. in Chemistry from the University of California- Irvine; he also studied Biology at both universities, nearly obtaining a dual degree in three years at age 18. After leaving Pfizer, Dr. Bashkin co-founded the antiviral company, NanoVir, LLC. He received several major awards. These include the Thomas and Hochwalt Prize, Monsanto’s highest award for Science and Technology, the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (both shared with co-inventors and team members), and the Roland Tibbetts Award to NanoVir, awarded to the top fifty federally-funded small businesses.

Dr. James K. Bashkin of St. Louis, Missouri, has been appointed as “Best in Medicine” by the American Health Council. Dr. Bashkin is a highly acclaimed Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry based at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, a role which he has held for five years as part of his 35-year career in research development, primarily in the chemistry, healthcare, and education sectors.

Initially, Dr. Bashkin worked in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, but his passion for chemistry, research, and teaching led him to a career in academia. For education, Dr. Bashkin earned a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine, in 1977 followed by a D.Phil. from Oxford University in 1982. His doctoral and undergraduate research focused on Organometallic Chemistry, but he also studied Biology throughout college.

Dr. Bashkin was appointed Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2011 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, having worked at that campus since 2003 since leaving his role as research advisor at Pfizer, previously Pharmacia and Monsanto. He first joined Monsanto in 1985 as a member of Corporate
Research, rising to Research Specialist, and spent 1991-1999 as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis before returning to Monsanto. Dr. Bashkin was both postdoctoral fellow, and NIH postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University from 1982-5 under the direction of Professor R. H. Holm and completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford with Professor Malcolm L. H. Green. Previously, Dr. Bashkin studied at the University of Arizona and received his B.A. in Chemistry from the University of California- Irvine; he also studied Biology at both universities, nearly obtaining a dual degree in three years at age 18. After leaving Pfizer, Dr. Bashkin co-founded the antiviral company, NanoVir, LLC.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis is a public research university at the forefront of innovation, offering a wide variety of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs that are second to none. The faculty are experts in their field who are active in cutting-edge research programs. The staff help
students to create valuable relationships that will allow them to assist those around them. The diverse culture of the University allows all students to succeed. The University has many different specialized courses to provide students with a wealth of expert knowledge. These include Business Administration, the Graduate School, Education, Nursing, Optometry, School of Social Work, The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, The Department of Music, Pierre Laclede Honors College, and UMSL/WUSTL Joint Engineering Program. The services include undergraduate education, graduate education, research, and community engagement. The daily tasks of Dr. Bashkin involve researching specific HPV antiviral drugs to prevent cervical cancer as well as teaching and service appointments and speaking engagements. He recently taught a course on creativity, music, science, and the police state in the Honors College with viola Professor Joanna Mendoza of the Arianna String Quartet.

Dr. Bashkin has had many successes throughout his career as he was involved in a variety of prominent drug candidate discoveries. In addition, he is the co-founder of a company called NanoVir, LLC, which is at the forefront of developing and uncovering innovative pharmaceutical agents. He has also set up an academic chemistry research group which has received substantial funding from both the National Institutes of Health and NanoVir, LLC. Dr. Bashkin was proud to share the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 1998 for a new clean and efficient way to prepare a Rubber Additive used worldwide by the automobile tire industry. Also, Dr. Bashkin was proud to feature on an NSF SBIR Review panel in 1991 and 2007 and worked on canvassing/selection committees between 2000-7 for an ACS National Award. He was canvassing chair between 2002-3 and selection chair 2006-7. He also served on the selection committee for the Presidential Green Challenge Award from 2001-3. He received the Thomas and Hochwalt Medal (Monsanto’s highest Science and Technology Prize) in 1994. He was vice-chair 2000 of the Gordon Research Conference on “Green Chemistry” before moving to Co-chair in 2002. He also has editorial experience as he was associate editor of Green Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry) between 1999-2002 and guest editor of two thematic issues, including “Glycobiology and Carbohydrate Chemistry” for the journal Chemical Reviews in 2000, while he served on the Editorial Advisory Board from 1991-2014. Dr. Bashkin credits his success to a comprehensive knowledge of both chemistry and biology and his refined communication skills. He is currently an Editor of the International Journal of Molecular Science and the Asian Journal of Green Chemistry. He has published over seventy-five papers and holds sixteen U.S. patents.

To both share knowledge and further his own, Dr. Bashkin is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Papillomavirus Society, and the Biophysical Society. In the next five years, Dr. Bashkin would like to be involved in transitioning his discoveries and developments to clinical trials.