Keynote Speaker
Dr. Robert A. Lerch
"Applying a Christian education to working for a drug company"
Dr. Bob Lerch is a Senior Director at Pfizer Vaccine Research & Development. He is responsible for strategic planning and operational aspects for the research and clinical testing groups located at the Pearl River, NY site.
Bob began his science career at Goshen College, a small Mennonite liberal art institution, where he majored in biology and chemistry. He then entered the graduate program in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he studied negative strand RNA viruses in the laboratory of Dr. Gail Wertz. After receiving his Ph.D., Bob joined the laboratory of Dr. Paul Friesen at The University of Wisconsin-Madison as a postdoctoral fellow working on baculovirus and viral regulatory elements. Following his postdoc, Bob went to work for RepliGen, a biotechnology company in Cambridge, MA, to work on an HIV vaccine approach involving the V3 loop.
In 1994, Bob joined “Lederle Vaccines & Pediatrics” to work on the development of viral vectored vaccines. While the organizations name has changed, he has worked in the vaccine research group for over 20 years. During that time he has performed bench level research, coordinated support lab services, led a research group, and guided program development.