At Adesis, we take pride in in our deep chemistry expertise that expands with each new challenge our clients bring us. That means collaborating with clients to take compounds from lab to manufacturing – increasing yields, identifying optimal reagents and catalysts, avoiding troublesome isolations and purifications – helping reduce overall costs along the way.
Our extraordinary team of chemists, with 82 PhDs and 331 patents among them, work in 72,000 sq ft of state-of-the-art lab space. They are driven to go beyond just providing chemical expertise for complex challenges to also supporting our pharma, biotech and specialty clients with their business challenges. And who leads the charge? Let me introduce you:
Leader of the ‘Chemistry’ Pack
One of the steadiest hands at the helm of Adesis is Dr. John “Jack” Chiarello, our VP of chemistry. In this role, Jack oversees all aspects of the chemistry taking place at Adesis and makes sure each and every project runs efficiently and safely. At the start of 2021, Jack celebrated his sixteenth year as part of the Adesis family, starting as a bench chemist and working his way up to group leader, team leader, and eventually the VP of chemistry. Along the way Jack formed inextricable bonds with his fellow chemists and took to heart the sense of camaraderie that represents one of Adesis’ core values.
In a recent Q&A with Jack, a pattern began to emerge about the qualities he looks for when hiring a chemist:
Q: What skills do you look for when hiring?
A: “Team players that are committed to working together to solve even the most complex chemical challenges.”
Q: How does Adesis deal with difficult chemistry both in the lab and in discerning a chemical synthesis?
A: “We have access to an extensive array of brilliant chemists who have run thousands of reactions and provide invaluable insight and are ready to tackle difficult problems.”
Q: What differentiates an Adesis chemist from their industry peers?
A: “A desire to see their coworkers succeed.”
Q: Why do you think Adesis has so many longtime clients?
A: “The team atmosphere combined with our professionalism. That’s why clients return to us whenever they need difficult chemical syntheses performed quickly and professionally.”
The Journey to Adesis
Jack’s first foray into chemistry was through his older brother, who was a chemist himself. Finding he enjoyed the subject as well, Jack earned his BS in chemistry at Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey) before pursuing his PhD in chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Madeleine Joullié, a prolific chemist in the realm of synthetic organic chemistry. Over the course of his career, Jack worked at American Cyanamid, Fort Dodge Animal Health (Wyeth), and FMC in drug discovery, animal health and crop protection before joining the chemistry team at Adesis.
Over the years Jack has served as our VP of chemistry there have been transition periods as Adesis grew into the major CRO and manufacturing partner it is today — but none more challenging than during the COVID pandemic. Jack worked with his chemistry team to adopt physical distancing measures and install other safety precautions to protect the chemists and the client projects.
Jack has been a constant steady hand, helping guide Adesis back to a sense of normalcy after this pandemic, and forward to an even stronger sense of unity amongst the chemistry team.
