Donald J. Kyle, PhD
VP Science & Academic Outreach
Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Donald J. Kyle, PhD received a BS degree in chemistry from Colorado State University in 1982, then earned a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Texas Tech University in 1986. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 34 years. His first industrial position was at Nova Pharmaceutical Corporation where he designed and synthesized experimental molecules for treating various CNS diseases including pain and participated in the development of high throughput screening and combinatorial chemistry for drug discovery. He pioneered structure-based design approaches to novel bradykinin receptor antagonists for pain and asthma, and developed computational tools aimed at the elucidation of protein structure for drug design.
After holding various scientific leadership positions at several companies, Dr. Kyle joined Purdue Pharma in 1998 to create a new pain research department and pipeline of potential new pain products that did not produce the same unwanted effects as opioids, NSAIDS, or COX-2 inhibitors. Between 2005 and 2012 his team delivered 5 FDA-approved INDs (Investigational New Drug Applications), several of which proceeded into multiple phase 2 trials. During his professional tenure, he has investigated many pain-related cellular mechanisms and has conducted extensive research in the opioid field. For the latter, he worked more than 15 years searching for mechanistic pathways to separate analgesia from euphoria and respiratory depression. In 2016 he was an invited scientific member of joint academia, industry, NIH, brainstorming meetings and working groups tasked to outline science-led solutions to the opioid crisis (ultimately becoming the HEAL initiative).
His scientific accomplishments are reflected in nearly 200 scientific publications, review papers, books and chapters, as well as 95 issued US patents across a wide range of technologies, molecules, therapeutic areas, and commercial products. He is a reviewer and editorial advisory board member for several peer-reviewed journals and has held several adjunct faculty appointments. He is currently an executive director at the National Center for Wellness and Recovery at Oklahoma State University.
Dr Kyle has no financial relationships or affiliations to disclose
