'My Time at Moffitt Was Instrumental'

"One thing that was apparent from day one at Moffitt was the focus on collaboration and shared resources," said Adam Carie, PhD. Dr. Carie began his research career at Moffitt in 2001 as a research assistant in the drug discovery lab of Dr. Said Sebti. Even as an undergraduate research assistant, Dr. Carie was expected to attend lab group meetings, departmental research presentations, and get to know all of the core facilities capabilities as well as other researchers within Moffitt.  “This environment was essential in learning to network and collaborate, and also see the big picture on how drug discovery and development is carried out,” Dr. Carie stated. 

In 2003, Dr. Carie joined the Cancer Biology PhD Program here at Moffitt. He continued his work in Dr. Sebti’s lab, took extra classes in entrepreneurship, studied International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) and U.S Food & Drug Administration (FDA) guidance’s, and learned about Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLPs). As a graduate student, he knew he wanted to go into an industry position in cancer drug development, so he made it a point to gain as much knowledge as possible in that career direction. During his time in the PhD Program, he also attended major international conferences, as well as smaller more focused conferences, where he was able to network and gain crucial presentation experience.

After graduating with his PhD in 2008, Dr. Carie joined Intezyne Technologies, a Tampa-based BioPharma company focusing on nanoparticle formulations to make safer, and more effective cancer therapeutics. “My time at Moffitt was instrumental in gaining the technical expertise and career development insights for me to choose to go into the BioPharma industry in cancer drug development,” said Dr. Carie. In 2018, he also decided to join Bold Therapeutics, a Vancouver-based BioPharma company focusing on the development of BOLD-100, a novel anticancer drug targeting chemo-resistance. 

Dr. Carie is currently the Director of Product Development for Intezyne and the Director of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC) and Nonclinical Development for Bold Therapeutics. For each company, he is part of small teams involved in early-stage oncology drug development. The small teams are very collaborative and they allow him the opportunity to work in an array of areas which he especially enjoys. He says he gets to dabble in manufacturing, intellectual property, clinical and preclinical research, and regulatory affairs - just to name a few.  

"Ultimately, I wanted my career to focus on an area that can really help people with cancer," Dr. Carie said. His mother passed away from malignant melanoma when he was just 8 years old and ever since he knew he wanted to do something to help. "The opportunity to help advance a new drug along the development path is fulfilling and exciting."

In Dr. Carie’s opinion, the biggest accomplishments in his professional career are the roles he’s had in taking new drugs from concept to clinic at both Intezyne Technologies and Bold Therapeutics.  “I think it is rare to be intimately involved in every step of the process of translating research from benchtop to bedside, and I’ve definitely learned a lot over the last 12 years,” he said.

Lastly, he gave some words of advice for current trainees. “It’s very easy to get so focused on the day-to-day that the big picture gets lost in the weeds.  If you’re not doing so already, take some time to examine where you are in the big picture of where you eventually want to be. No matter what, if you have a specific technical interest or want to get a tenured professorship, there are always ways to prepare yourself for that next career move.  The only way to do that is to have a clear picture of what you want, and what it takes to get there.”