Sue Swalley ’93 is a Vice President at Dewpoint Therapeutics overseeing high throughput screening, in vitro pharmacology and target deconvolution. Trained as a chemist, her current research focuses on discovering small molecules that modulate the function of biomolecular condensates in order to treat diseases with high unmet medical need. Prior to Dewpoint, she led a chemical biology laboratory at Biogen as Principal Scientist, developing and applying methodologies for target deconvolution of small molecule hits from phenotypic screens. Her earlier roles included positions of Senior Investigator at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research where she identified and validated targets using biophysical approaches, and Research Scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where she contributed to the evaluation and screening of new targets.
Sue graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College with bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and music, and she obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology with Dr. Peter Dervan. Her postdoctoral training was at Harvard University in the laboratories of Dr. Don Wiley and Dr. Stephen Harrison.
Sue Swalley ’93
Q. How do you use your liberal arts education in the work you do today?
A. I regularly apply the critical thinking skills developed at Amherst. Science at Amherst isn’t focused on memorizing a bunch of facts, but rather focuses on how to solve problems, which I do on a daily basis.