Key appointment to drive drug discovery growth

ELRIG, the volunteer-driven, non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing drug discovery, has named Dr Del Trezise as its new Chair of the Board. Taking over from Melanie Leveridge, who concluded her successful four-year term, Dr Trezise will continue ELRIG’s mission of fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange, and scientific innovation within the drug discovery field.

Dr Trezise, a seasoned leader with over 30 years of experience spanning academia, biotech, and biopharma, brings an extensive background to his new role. His current leadership positions include non-executive director and advisory roles at Sartorius, Axol Bioscience, Semarion, and Refeyn. A key figure in the creation of the European division of Essen BioScience, he helped pioneer live-cell imaging technology for industrial-scale drug discovery. With previous leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline R&D, Dr Trezise has a proven track record in biological reagents, assay development, and compound profiling.

An enthusiastic advocate of ELRIG’s work, Dr Trezise has been a committed volunteer since 2013, having served as Scientific Programme Chair, Early Career Professionals Work Group Leader, and Head of the Innovation Work Group. He joined the ELRIG Board in 2017 and now steps into the role of Chair with the aim of furthering ELRIG’s growth and impact in the scientific community. His first major responsibility will be to host the upcoming Drug Discovery 2025 conference in Liverpool, UK, from 21–22 October.

Outgoing Chair Melanie Leveridge, Vice President of Assays, Profiling & Cell Sciences at AstraZeneca, praised Dr Trezise’s leadership, noting: “Del’s extensive experience and leadership in biotech and pharmaceutical R&D have been vital in shaping ELRIG over the past decade. He has been instrumental in supporting early-career professionals and startups. It has been a privilege to serve as Chair, and I’m confident ELRIG will continue to thrive under Del’s direction.”

Dr Trezise commented on his appointment: “Melanie’s leadership has been exceptional, particularly through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and in advancing ELRIG’s initiatives in EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion). I’m excited to build on this strong foundation, enhancing collaboration with our community partners and continuing to drive impactful events and scientific progress.”

ELRIG serves a global network of over 22,000 life science professionals from biopharma, biotech, CROs, academia, and industry vendors. The organisation’s commitment to connecting the drug discovery community continues to grow, and under Dr Trezise’s leadership, ELRIG is poised to deepen its influence and engagement across sectors. 

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