About
Dr. George Poste is the Del E. Webb Professor of Health Innovation and Chief Scientist, The Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative (CASI) (http://www.casi.asu.edu) at Arizona State University (ASU). (March 2009 ASU announces new research initiative, George Poste, director of the Biodesign Institute, will lead the new Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative at ASU). This program integrates research in genomics, synthetic biology and high performance computing to study the altered regulation of molecular networks in human diseases to develop new diagnostic tests for precision (personalized) medicine and the remote monitoring of health status using miniaturized body sensors and mobile devices.
From 2003 to 2009 he directed and built The Biodesign Institute at ASU (www.biodesign.asu.edu/). In leading this Institute, Dr. Poste designed and built 400,000 sq. ft. of new facilities, achieved cumulative research funding of $225 million and recruited over 60 faculty, including three members of the National Academies of Science and Engineering (Biodesign Institute Accomplishments).
He serves on the Board of Directors of Monsanto, Exelixis, Caris Life Sciences, and the Scientific Advisory Boards of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan, Synthetic Genomics, Human Longevity Inc., Vir Biotechnology and Haplogen GmbH. From 1992 to 1999, he was Chief Science and Technology Officer and President, R&D, of SmithKline Beecham (SB). During his tenure at SB, he was associated with the successful registration of multiple drug, vaccine and diagnostic products. He was named “R&D Scientist of the Year” by R&D Magazine (2004), he received the Einstein award from the Global Business Leadership Council (2006), the Scrip Lifetime Achievement award voted by the leadership of the global pharmaceutical industry (2009), and the Lifetime Achievement award from the Arizona BioIndustry Association (2016).
He was named “R&D Scientist of the Year” by R&D Magazine (2004), he received the Einstein award from the Global Business Leadership Council (2006), the Scrip Lifetime Achievement award voted by the leadership of the global pharmaceutical industry (2009), and the Lifetime Achievement award from the Arizona BioIndustry Association (2016).
He has published more than 350 research papers and edited 14 books on pharmaceutical technologies, cancer and infectious diseases. He has received honorary degrees in science, law and medicine for his research contributions. More recently Barker A., Compton C., Poste G. (2014) The National Biomarker Development Alliance (NBDA): Accelerating the Translation of Biomarkers to the Clinic. Biomarkers Med. 8(6), 873–876 Retrieved October 24, 2014. Also, Poste G., Barker A., Compton C. (2014) The National Biomarker Development Alliance (NBDA): Confronting the Poor Productivity of Biomarker Research and Development. Expert Rev. Mol. Diagn. Posted online on November 25, 2014. (doi:10.1586/14737159.2015.974561). In an invited commentary published in the January 13 issue of Nature titled Bring on the biomarkers, George Poste, Chief Scientist for ASU Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative, makes a case for replacing the current patchwork of fragmented research on disease-associated biomarkers with a coordinated ‘big science’ approach. Â Biomarkers are molecular changes in body tissues and fluids that signal the presence of a disease. Read the article. (Other recent publications: Clin Cancer Res 2012;18:1515-1523 titled “Leveling the Playing Field: Bringing Development of Biomarkers and Molecular Diagnostics up to the Standards for Drug Development”; Member, Kauffman Foundation Task Force. Report Valuing Health Care: Improving Productivity and Quality article.; and Biospecimens, biomarkers, and burgeoning data: the imperative for more rigorous research standards. George Poste Trends in Molecular Medicine (2012) TRMOME-814.)
He is a Fellow of the U.K. Royal Society, the Royal College of Pathologists and the U.K. Academy of Medicine, a member of the Council for Foreign Relations and the US Academy of Medicine Global Forum on Infectious Disease, a former Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a Governor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. He has served as a member of the Defense Science Board of the U.S. Department of Defense and currently serves on advisory committees for several U.S. government agencies in defense, intelligence, national security, and healthcare.
His personal interests are in automobile racing, military history, photography and exploring the deserts of the American Southwest.