Brent R. Stockwell, Ph.D. is Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences and a Professor at Columbia University in the Departments of Biological Science and Chemistry. His research involves the discovery of small molecules that can be used to understand and treat cancer and neurodegeneration, with a focus on biochemical mechanisms governing cell death. In a series of papers from 2003-2012, Dr. Stockwell discovered a new form of cell death known as ferroptosis. Since then, his lab has defined many of the major mechanisms governing ferroptosis, as well as key reagents for studying this new form of cell death.
Dr. Stockwell has received numerous awards, including a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface, a Beckman Young Investigator Award, an HHMI Early Career Scientist Award, the BioAccelerate NYC Prize, the Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award, the Great Teacher of Columbia College Award from the Society of Columbia Graduates, the Dean Peter Awn Commitment to the LGBTQ community Faculty Award, and an NCI R35 Outstanding Investigator Award. He has been in the top one percent of highly cited researchers the last three years, and was named as one of the 50 most influential life science individuals in New York.
He has developed a new blended learning approach to teaching biochemistry, performed randomized controlled trials to examine the effectiveness of teaching methods, and introduced the use of virtual reality and augmented and mixed reality into his biochemistry course.
He has given more than 120 seminars around the world, trained more than 100 undergraduate and graduate students, technicians and postdoctoral scientists, published >160 scientific articles, been awarded 23 US patents, and received >50 research grants for >$40 million. He founded the biopharmaceutical companies CombinatoRx Incorporated, Inzen Therapeutics, ProJenX, Inc. and Exarta Therapeutics, and is the author of The Quest for the Cure: The Science and Stories Behind the Next Generation of Medicines. Recently, he met former Mayor Bill de Blasio to discuss the life science ecosystem in New York City.
